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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D. 

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PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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THE 

LIFE  AND  LABORS 


REV.  T.  H.  GALLAUDET,  LL.  D. 


BY 


REV.  HEMAN  HUMPHREY,  D.D. 


NEW    YORK: 

ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTHERS. 

NO.    530    BROADWAY. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S57,  by 

EOBEET  CAETEE  &  BROTHERS, 

In  tbe  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New  York. 


DWARD     0.    JENKINS, 

printer  anti  Strreotgper, 
26  Frankfort  St.. 


TO 

MRS.    SOPHIA   GALLAUDET, 
AND    HER    CHILDREN, 


£I)i$  Doluinc 


S     RESPECTFULLY 


DettfcateU. 


PREFACE 


In  preparing  this  volume  for  the  press,  the  Editor 
has  been  permitted  to  avail  himself  of  all  the  mate- 
rials within  reach,  whether  in  manuscript  or  in  print. 
He  claims  nothing  beyond  having,  in  the  humble  task 
of  compiler,  exercised  his  best  judgment  in  the  selec- 
tion and  arrangement  of  the  matter  furnished  to  his 
hand.  What  the  friends  and  the  public,  to  whom  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  was  so  extensively 
known,  want,  is  a  true  portrait  of  the  man  as  he  was : 
a  faithful  sketch  of  his  life  and  labors ;  of  his  eminent 
services  in  the  cause  of  education,  especially  in  the 
new  department  of  deaf  mute  instruction,  which  he 
inaugurated  and  carried  to  higher  perfection  in  his 
own  school  than  it  had  attained,  even  in  the  Parisian 
Asylum  to  which  he  was  indebted  for  his  own  edu- 
cation in  the  language  of  signs. 

Such  a  sketch  could  not  be  given  without  a  free 
latitude  of  selection,  as  well  from  his  occasional  dis- 
courses and  rich  contributions  to  the  educational  press, 
as  from  his  extensive  private  correspondence.  To 
have  withheld  the  best  occasional  and  professional 
productions  of  his  prolific  pen,  because  so  many  of 

M 


VI  PEEFACE. 

them  were  already  in  print,  would  have  been  doing 
great  injustice  to  the  subject  of  this  Memoir.  Most 
of  what  has  been  arrested  was  floating  down  upon  the 
stream  of  fugitive  contributions,  and  the  Editor  is 
quite  sure  that  the  readers  of  the  present  volume  will 
rather  thank  than  blame  him  for  this  free  use  of  quo- 
tations and  gleanings. 

The  Editor  has  elsewhere  expressed  his  special  in- 
debtedness to  Mr.  Barnard's  eloquent  Tribute ;  and 
in  making  selections  from  what  has  been  published 
in  one  form  or  another,  he  has  been  mainly  indebted 
to  the  matter  bound  up  in  the  same  volume.  Most 
of  the  other  obligations  will  be  found  duly  acknowl- 
edged; and  if  there  have  been  any  omissions,  it  is 
hoped  they  will  be  excused  by  whomsoever  they  may 
concern.  The  Editor  has  had  no  ambition  to  make 
himself  prominent  in  this  memorial  of  his  friend  and 
class-mate.  His  endeavor  has  been  to  hold  up  one 
of  the  distinguished  and  most  active  philanthropists 
of  his  time,  as  an  example  worthy  of  imitation,  by 
the  whole  class  of  educated  young  men  as  they  come 
upon  the  stage.  Would  that  each,  like  Thomas  H. 
Gallaudet,  could  be  persuaded  to  ask,  "Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ? "  and  have  grace  and 
ability  to  "serve  God  and  his  generation"  with  equal 
fidelity  and  success. 

Pittsfield,  Mass.,  Sept.  1, 1857. 


CONTENTS 


Intbodttotion, 


i art  |irst. 

CHAPTER  I. 

His  Birth — A  Reverie — He  enters  College — Graduates—  Studies  Law — Con- 
version— Enters  the  Ministry, IT 

CHAPTER  II. 

Alice  Cogswell — Deaf  Mutes  in  Connecticut — An  Association  Formed — Mr. 
Gallaudet  Called — Sent  Abroad — Letter  to  Alice  Cogswell — He  Embarks 
— Letter  to  Mr.  "Woodbridge — Mr.  Gallaudet  in  London — In  Edinburgh- 
Letters,    27 

CHAPTER   III. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  leaves  for  Paris— Abbe  Sicard— Laurent  Clerc — His  Statement 

— Return — Letters, 70 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Asylum  Incorporated — Opened — Introductory  Discourse — Dedicated — 
Discourse — Progress  of  the  Asylum — Sermon — Essay  on  Sign  Language — 
Address— Reminiscences — Anecdotes— Articulation— Letter  to  Hon.  H. 
Mann, 100 


art  Su0tt&. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  leaves  the  Asylum— Applied  to  by  the  American  Colonization 
Society — Education  of  Colored  Persons — Abduhl  Eahhaman — Asylum 
for  the  Blind— New  York  University — Various  Applications — Education 

of  Infants, 217 

[vii] 


VTU  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Educational  Books — American  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge 
—Letters— The  Bible  in  Colleges— A  Plea  for  Science— Mr.  Gallaudet  a 
Poet — Poems— Letters  to  his  Family, 


fart  %\ixi. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Insane  Hospital  at  "Worcester — Correspondence — Eetreat  for  the  Insane,  Hart- 
ford—Mr. Gallaudet  Engaged  as  Chaplain — Extracts  from  his  Diary — His 
own  Account  of  his  Labors— Presentation  of  Plate  to  Messrs.  Gallaudet 
and  Clerc, 


CHAPTER   II. 
His  Health  Fails— His  Death— Public  Exercises, 


CHAPTER  III  . 

"  Gallaudet  Monument  Association  "—Description  of  the  Monument — Its  In- 
auguration—  Mr.  Gallaudet's  Character  and  Genius  —  Commemorative 
Discourse,  by  Hon.  H.  Barnard — Testimony  of  Kev.  H.  Hooker— Dr. 
Peet— "The  Christian  Examiner  "—Dr.  Butler— Dr.  E.  K  Hunt,    .        .    394 


INTRODUCTION. 


When  a  good  man  dies,  his  family  suffers  an  irre^ 
parable  loss.  And  if  he  hath  been  a  good  Samaritan 
in  his  day ;  if  he  hath  stretched  out  his  hands  to  the 
needy ;  if  he  hath  given  to  the  poor ;  if  he  hath  visited 
the  widows  and  the  fatherless  in  their  afflictions,  you 
will  find  them  among  the  sincerest  mourners  at  his 
funeral.  Still  greater  is  the  loss,  when  a  burning  and 
shining  light  in  the  Church  is  extinguished,  or  when  a 
man,  who  in  any  other  public  capacity  has  "served 
God  and  his  generation"  with  eminent  devotedness, 
ability,  and  usefulness,  ceases  from  his  earthly  labor, 
and  enters  into  rest. 

But  how  much  greater  would  the  loss  be,  if  none  of 
the  good  which  such  men  do  lived  after  them.  How 
wise  and  beneficent  are  those  providential  sequences, 
which  conspire  to  fulfill  the  promise,  that  "the  righte- 
ous shall  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance."  How 
many  have  been  cheered  on  their  toilsome  pilgrimage, 

1*  [9J 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

by  following  the  faith  and  patience  of  those  who 
inherit  the  promises  !  and  how  much  richer  the  super- 
added legacy,  when  those  who  have  been  eminent 
public  benefactors,  leave  behind  them  the  fruits 
of  their  studies  and  acquisitions  in  printed  books  or 
unpublished  manuscripts !  When  they  are  gone  they 
should  be  embalmed  in  fitting  memorials  of  "  what 
manner  of  men  they  were,"  by  handing  down  the 
ripest  fruits  of  their  "labors"  to  "the  generations  fol- 
lowing." 

What  an  irreparable  loss  it  would  have  been  to  the 
Church  and  the  world,  if  such  men  as  Bunyan,  and 
Baxter,  and  Howe,  and  Leighton,  and  Howard,  and 
Wilberforce,  and  Edwards,  and  Chalmers,  and  D wight, 
had  been  taken  final  leave  of  at  the  grave's  mouth,  and 
none  of  their  writings  had  come  down  to  us.  Much 
as  they  accomplished  in  their  lifetime,  some  of  them 
at  least,  perhaps  all,  have  done,  are  doing,  and  will  do 
vastly  more  good  by  what  they  have  left  behind  for 
our  instruction  and  encouragement,  than  it  was  possi- 
ble for  them  to  accomplish  by  their  personal  labors. 

And  though  but  few  of  these  "greater  lights"  shine 
upon  the  ages  as  they  roll,  not  a  few  large-hearted 
philanthropists  and  public  benefactors  depart  from  the 
stage  every  year,  whose  lives  and  labors  are  a  sort  of 
public  legacy,  which  it  would  be  wrong  to  withhold 
from  those  who  survive  them. 

Moreover,  in  reading  the  lives  of  those  men  who 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

have  been  most  eminently  useful  in  their  times,  we 
can  hardly  fail  of  being  struck  with  the  great  diver- 
sity of  their  talents,  positions,  and  educational  training, 
fitting  them  for  the  work  which  they  had  to  do.  And 
yet,  how  few  readers  of  their  works  and  memoirs  give 
themselves  the  trouble  to  inquire,  whence  and  for  what 
high  ends  these  remarkable  diversities  of  talent  and 
preferences  were  bestowed. 

To  say  that  Grod  never  intended  in  any  age  or  coun- 
try to  make  all  men  alike,  to  bestow  the  same  apti- 
tude and  endowments  upon  all  who  he  intends  shall 
serve  him  and  bless  the  world  in  their  generations, 
would  be  quite  idle.  Nobody  believes  that  he  did. 
It  would  be  a  palpable  impeachment  of  his  wisdom 
and  benevolence.  Without  such  diversities  as  every- 
where exist,  the  complicated  machinery  of  human 
society  must  stop  at  once.  It  would  be  deranged,  dis- 
organized, broken  up.  There  must  be  a  "diversity  of 
gifts,"  to  fit  men  for  the  spheres  which  they  are  to  fill, 
for  the  service  they  are  to  perform ;  and  these  gifts  are 
marvelously  diversified.  Probably  no  two  men  were 
ever  exactly  alike  fitted  for  the  same  work,  or  ever 
will  be ;  how  much  less  can  the  most  gifted  excel  in 
everything  that  is  honorable  and  useful  in  their  day ! 
This  general  proposition  needs  no  enlargement.  And 
there  is  another  equally  true,  which  is  too  often  blinked 
out  of  sight. 

It  is  this.    When  a  man  comes  up  into  life,  possessing 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

j  ust  the  talents  which  are  wanted  for  some  new  benev- 
olent enterprise,  it  is  not  an  accidental  aptitude  which 
is  needed,  just  then,  to  insure  its  success.  It  is  not, 
that  where  so  many  are  born  every  year,  it  might  be 
expected,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  exactly  the  right 
talents  for  every  service  would  be  found  among  the 
number.  No.  "As  every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
gift  cometh  down  from  above;"  so,  in  the  bestowment 
of  these  gifts,  the  spirit  of  God  "  divideth  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  will." 

It  is  a  common  remark,  that  great  and  eminently 
useful  men  are  made  by  the  exigency  of  the  times  in 
which  they  live ;  and,  in  a  limited  sense,  it  is  undoubt- 
edly true.  They  are  brought  into  notice  by  the  pres- 
sure of  circumstances,  by  the  onward  progress  of 
society,  and  by  the  demand  for  talents  of  a  high  order, 
to  inaugurate  and  successfully  prosecute  great  enter- 
prises. So  far  the  leaders,  around  whom  ordinary  men 
rally,  are  made  by  the  times.  But  who  made  the 
times  1  In  other  words,  who,  in  the  progress  of  human 
affairs,  so  orders  events  that  just  such  qualifications 
and  services  as  are  wanted,  are  at  hand  to  meet  the  de- 
mand; and  who  endows  the  prominent  agents  with 
talents,  without  which  the  most  urgent  necessities  of 
the  times  would  accomplish  nothing  ?  They  develop 
faculties  which,  under  other  circumstances,  might  never 
have  been  brought  out.  That  is  all  they  can  do.  God, 
in  governing  this  world,  raises  up  such  instruments  as 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

he  wants,  and  endows  them  with  just  such  talents  as 
are  best  suited  to  his  purpose. 

Thus  it  was  that  he  raised  up  Moses,  and  Joshua, 
and  David,  and  Paul.  The  ages  in  which  they  lived, 
and  which  they  so  illustriously  adorned,  did  not  qualify 
them  for  their  high  enterprises,  but  merely  brought 
them  out.  Thus  it  was  that  he  raised  up  Martin  Lu- 
ther, and  endowed  him  with  those  extraordinary  gifts 
which  placed  him  in  the  forefront  of  the  Protestant 
Eeformation.  So  George  Washington  was  given  to 
his  country,  in  the  time  of  her  greatest  peril.  So  of 
John  Knox,  and  all  the  eminent  Eeformers  of  their 
times.  He  who  can  never  be  at  a  loss  for  instruments, 
endowed  them  richly  and  variously  with  talents  for  the 
work  which  they  had  to  do. 

When  we  come  down  from  these  shining  heights, 
nearer  to  the  common  level,  we  are  apt  to  forget,  that 
in  like  manner,  God  brings  forward  and  endows  whom 
he  will,  with  the  needful  abilities  to  take  the  lead  in 
every  new  benevolent  enterprise;  in  every  stage  of 
advancement  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
amelioration  of  such  physical  and  mental  calamities  as 
make  life  a  burden  to  the  deaf  and  dumb,  to  the  blind 
and  to  the  insane. 

Biographical  memorials  of  such  men  as  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  taking  the  lead  in  these  and 
kindred  alleviations,  will  always  be  read  with  interest, 
even  by  those  who  scarcely  think  at  all  of  Him  who 


]  4  INTRODUCTION. 

gifted  them  with  their  noble  faculties,  and  breathed 
into  them  the  inspiration  which  bore  them  on  through 
every  discouragement  and  obstacle;  and  how  much 
deeper  is  the  interest,  when  the  moving  cause,  the 
"loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies  of  our  God,"  are 
kept  continually  in  view.  Doubtless  some  published 
memoirs  might  well  have  been  dispensed  with ;  but  men 
are  endowed  with  such  an  infinite  variety  of  gifts ; 
their  lives  and  labors  are  so  exceedingly  modified  by 
providential  circumstances ;  that  very  interesting  traits 
of  character  are  often  brought  out  in  memoirs  which 
do  honor  to  human  nature;  and  which  serve  as  ex- 
amples to  stimulate  others  to  noble  aspirations,  but 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  lost  to  the  Church 
and  the  world.  Without  claiming  the  highest  rank 
for  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  we  are  persuaded,  that 
not  only  his  numerous  friends  in  all  parts  of  the  land, 
but  many  others,  will  be  glad  to  see  a  more  extended 
notice  of  his  life  and  labors,  than  has  yet  been  published. 


PART  FIRST. 


EMBRACING  THE  PERIOD  OF   HIS   EARLY  LIFE, 

AND   HIS   LABORS  IN   THE   CAUSE  OF 

DEAF  MUTE  EDUCATION. 


PART     FIRST. 


CHAPTER   I 


Thomas  Hopkins  Gallaudet  was  born  in  the  City 
of  Philadelphia,  on  the  10th  of  December,  1787.  He 
could  trace  back  his  lineage  to  an  honorable  Protestant 
source,  next  to  that  of  martyrdom.  His  great-grand- 
father, Peter  Elihu  Gallaudet,  was  a  minister  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  in  the  city  of  Rochelle,  France, 
whence  so  many  barely  escaped  the  baptism  of  blood 
by  fleeing  to  America,  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  He  came  to 
this  country  somewhat  earlier,  and  settled  in  or  near 
the  town  of  New  Rochelle,  in  the  then  infant  colony 
of  New  York.  He  had  a  son,  Thomas  Gallaudet,  who 
was  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Thomas  H.,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  present  memorial.  His  father  was  Peter 
W.  Gallaudet,  and  his  mother,  Jane  Hopkins,  was  the 
daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  Hopkins,  a  descendant 
of  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
The  family  removed  from  Philadelphia  to  Hartford, 
when  Thomas  was  quite  young,  where  he  grew  up  a 


18  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

sprightly  and  promising  hoy.  His  correct  deport- 
ment, his  amiable  temper,  his  sparkling  eye,  and  his 
studious  habits,  gave  early  promise  of  the  high  dis- 
tinction which  awaited  him  in  classical  attainments, 
and  in  the  improvement  of  those  native  talents  which, 
prepared  him  for  such  eminent  usefulness  in  after  life. 
The  following  "Keverie,"  found  among  his  papers,  and 
which  is  here  inserted,  throws  light  upon  his  boyhood, 
and  the  excursive  tendencies  of  his  ever  active  mind. 
It  does  not  appear  at  what  period  it  was  written,  but 
the  close  of  it  reveals  to  us  the  elements,  at  least,  of 
those  speculations  upon  the  language  of  signs,  com- 
pared with  that  of  speech,  ripening  into  the  maturity 
which  so  much  distinguishes  and  recommends  his 
lucid  statements  and  arguments  in  this  memoir. 

"A  REVERIE. 

"  I  believe  there  are  few  persons  who  have  not  ex- 
perienced that  exquisite  mental  luxury  which  is  derived 
from  the  calm  contemplations  of  a  walk  in  the  woods 
of  Autumn,  or  the  midnight  musings  of  a  winter's  fire- 
side. At  such  time?,  if  no  tumultuous  passions  agitate 
the  breast,  the  imagination  wanders  delightfully  through 
the  immeasurable  fields  of  its  own  empire,  and  rejoices 
in  its  arbitrary  dominion,  transitory  as.  it  may  be,  over 
mere  shadows  and  phantasms.  How  far  the  indulgence 
of  such  a  state  of  mind  is  conducive  to  the  happiness  of 
the  individual  who  cherishes  it,  is  a  question  of  per- 
haps not  very  easy  solution,  and  one  which  I  dare  not 
venture  to  discuss,  lest  I  should  possibly  betray  my  own 
weakness;  for  I  have  to  acknowledge  that  no  small 
portion  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  reverie.     I  can 


REV.    THOS.    n.    GALLAUDET.  19 

remember,  when  I  was  a  boy,  that  I  used  to  steal  away 
from  m  j  companions,  and  find  out  a  lonely  spot  in  the 
fields  or  woods  where  we  were  sporting,  and  seating 
myself  under  the  shade  of  some  venerable  tree,  and 
drawing  a  thousand  strange  figures  in  the  sand  before 
me,  and  ever  and  anon  whistling  a  simple  air  of  the 
nursery,  give  up  my  youthful  fancy  to  any  dreams  of 
future  happiness  or  greatness  which  it  might  choose  to 
form.  And  as  I  grew  older,  I  used  to  delight  to  dwell 
upon  what  might  be,  and  to  conjure  up  such  scenes  of 
prosperity  for  myself  and  friends  and  all  mankind,  as 
would  more  than  realize,  could  they  have  an  existence, 
the  warmest  expectations  of  the  most  enthusiastic  phil- 
anthropist. Perhaps  such  flights  of  fancy  may  have 
opened  the  way  to  the  important  discoveries  which 
have  now  and  then  burst  upon  the  view  of  some  happy 
genius,  and  astonished  mankind  both  with  their  novelty 
and  value.  At  any  rate,  I  hope  my  serious  readers 
will  not  decry  such  musings  as  wholly  useless,  and  at 
least  indulge  one  lonely  being  in  these,  who  is  free  to 
confess  that  they  have  formed  some  of  the  happiest 
moments  of  his  life. 

"The  other  evening  I  fell  into  one  of  these  reveries. 
The  embers  of  my  fire  gradually  sunk  away  in  the 
ashes,  the  clock  had  struck  I  know  not  how  many  suc- 
cessive hours  without  my  noticing  them,  and  the  first 
tiling  which  broke  my  delightful  dream  was  the  crow- 
ing of  the  matin  cock.  I  was  thinking  of  the  various 
causes,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  which  had 
contributed  to  break  the  golden  chain  which  once 
bound  together  the  whole  family  of  man.  The  Tower 
of  Babel  rose  conspicuous  to  my  view,  and  it  appeared 
to  me  that  the  confusion  of  tongues,  which  ensued  upon 


20  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

that  audacious  attempt,  had  been  a  prime  agent  in  pro- 
ducing all  the  discord  and  animosity  which  have  so 
long  made  our  unhappy  world  the  theater  of  tumult 
and  blood.  Language  is  the  medium  of  communica- 
tion, not  only  between  individuals,  but  nations;  and 
there  is  no  more  effectual  barrier  between  different  per- 
sons and  communities,  than  a  difference  of  speech.  It 
is  a  kind  of  Chinese  wall,  which  shuts  up  within  its  own 
inclosure  all  useful  discoveries  in  the  sciences  and  arts. 
It  is  like  the  old  Egyptian  secret  of  preserving  the  dead, 
and  embalms  in  immortal  youth  all  the  habits,  customs, 
and  manners  of  a  people.  It  is  the  optic  glass  through 
which  we  discern  the  human  mind ;  and  sometimes  it 
disfigures  and  distorts  all  that  is  true  and  honest  and 
candid,  so  as  to  beget  the  grossest  conceptions  of  the 
views  and  intentions  of  others.  It  is  the  embassy  which 
one  nation  sends  to  another ;  and  if  its  diplomatic  com- 
munications be  misconstrued,  it  becomes  the  fruitful 
source  of  contests  and  bloodshed.  It  is  the  pioneer  which 
'precedes  all  missionary  efforts,  and  often  it  has  rugged 
paths  to  clear  and  tremendous  obstacles  to  remove,  be- 
fore the  way  can  be  made  straight  for  the  triumphal 
march  of  Christianity  through  the  regions  of  supersti- 
tion and  sin. 

"  Before  the  millennium  arrives,  will  one  language 
prevail  and  swallow  up  the  rest,  or  will  mankind  agree 
to  form  a  universal  language  ?  Would  not  such  a  pro- 
ject be  pregnant  with  incalculable  advantages?  How 
shall  it  be  accomplished  ?  What  shall  this  universal 
language  be  ?  Is  there  already  one,  provided  by  Na- 
ture herself,  easy  of  acquisition,  universal  in  its  appli- 
cation, and  which  demands  neither  types  nor  paper? 
lias  such  a  language  yet  eluded  the  research  of  the 


REV.   TITOS,   H.    GALLAUDET.  21 

profoundest  philosopliers,  and  is  it  left  for  some  happy 
genius  yet  to  find  it?  As  is  often  the  case,  just  when 
the  mind  is  ready  to  light  upon  some  most  wonderful 
discovery,  the  capricious  fancy  disdains  the  dull  pro- 
cess of  beating  out  trutli  upon  the  anvil  of  experiment — 
and  my  reverie  ended." 

Mr.  Gallaudet  was  fitted  for  Yale  College  in  the 
Hartford  Grammar  School,  and  entered  the  sopho- 
more class  in  the  autumn  of  1802,  in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  his  age;  quite  too  young,  as  he  himself  used  to 
say,  to  reap  the  full  advantage  of  a  collegiate  educa- 
tion. In  this  judgment  the  most  experienced  teachers 
in  our  public  seminaries  will,  I  am  quite  sure,  concur. 
Parents  commit  a  great  mistake  when  they  push  their 
sons  into  college  as  early  as  they  can.  What  if  they 
are  well  fitted  to  enter  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  or  even 
younger  ?  it  is  far  better,  on  every  account,  to  keep 
them  out  two  or  three  years  longer.  There  is  no  dif- 
ficulty in  finding  profitable  studies  for  them,  without 
anticipating  those  in  the  prescribed  classical  course, 
which  rarely  if  ever  should  be  clone ;  for,  in  a  majority 
of  cases,  it  would  tempt  the  student  to  wait  for  the  class 
to  overtake  him,  and  thus  form  a  habit  of  neglect,  hard 
to  be  overcome,  during  the  whole  course. 

Do  what  you  can  to  force  your  favorite  son  forward, 
and  make  a  prodigy  of  him,  nature  will  take  her  own 
time  to  make  a  full-grown,  healthy  man,  and  will  refuse 
to  cooperate  with  you  unless  you  will  patiently  wait 
for  her.  She  never  puts  any  of  her  children  into  hot- 
houses to  bring  them  to  a  precocious,  pale  maturity,  and 
then  to  wilt  down  in  the  open  air.  Do  what  you  will, 
the  mind  does  not  gain  sufficient  strength  and  maturity 
to  grapple  with  the  higher  mathematical  and  deeper 


22  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

metaphysical  branches  of  a  thorough  public  education 
till  the  student  approaches  his  majority.  Sixteen  is 
quite  young  enough  to  enter  the  freshman  class. 
Seventeen,  in  all  ordinary  cases;  is  still  better.  This 
will  bring  him  out  at  twenty-one,  which  is  early  enough. 

It  is  quite  true  that  some  minds  ripen  earlier  than 
others ;  and  it  is  freely  conceded  that  some  who  gradu- 
ate very  young,  rise  above  many  of  their  seniors  in 
after  life,  as  was  the  case  with  Grallaudet.  But  the 
exceptions  are  so  few  as  hardly  to  affect  the  general 
rule.  And  moreover,  if  a  boy  who  enters  at  fourteen 
and  graduates  at  eighteen,  holds  a  high  rank  in  his  class, 
and  afterwards  among  the  educated  men  of  his  age,  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  suppose1  that  he  might  have  made 
his  mark  still  higher  had  he  waited  longer  for  the  full 
development  of  his  powers.  If  Gallaudet,  who  was 
the  youngest  member  of  his  class,  surpassed  us  all  in 
general  scholarship,  as  I  think  he  did,  it  is  reasonable 
to  infer  that  he  might  have  distanced  us  still  more  had 
he  been  two  or  three  years  older  than  he  was  when  our 
text-books  made  the  heaviest  demands  upon  his  ability 
to  master  them. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression.  More  youthful 
in  appearance  than  even  in  age  ;  modest,  unobtrusive, 
and  strictly  correct  in  all  his  habits ;  Grallaudet  was  a 
universal  favorite  in  his  class.  We  all  loved  him, 
and  anticipated  much  from  him,  in  whatever  pro- 
fession he  might  choose  to  enter.  In  his  studies  he 
was  remarkably  systematic,  and  was  scrupulously 
punctual  in  his  attendance  upon  all  college  exer- 
cises. Rarely,  if  ever,  had  he  a  mark  upon  the  moni- 
tor's bill ;  and  whoever  else  might  boggle  over  the 
lesson,  Gallaudet  was  sure  to  have  mastered  it.     He 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  23 

Lad  a  talent  and  a  taste  for  mathematics,  which  would 
have  given  him  very  high  distinction  as  a  professor  in 
that  department,  had  he  chosen  to  devote  his  life  to  it. 
In  English  composition  he  had  no  superior,  and  no 
equal,  in  his  class.  Indeed  there  was  no  branch,  except 
declamation,  in  which  he  did  not  excel ;  and  in  that  he 
always  acquitted  himself  handsomely,  though  his  voice 
was  not  strong,  and  he  was  too  modest  to  do  himself 
full  justice  on  the  college  stage.  He  graduated  in 
1805,  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class,  and  left  our 
Aim  Mater,  with  the  confident  prediction  of  those  who 
knew  him  best,  that  should  his  life  and  health  be  spared 
he  would  become  one  of  her  brightest  ornaments. 

He  was  not  then  a  professor  of  religion,  and  it  does 
not  appear  that  when  he  left  college  he  had  marked 
out  for  himself  any  profession.  But  it  was  not  in  his 
nature  to  be  idle.  He  very  soon  entered  the  office  of 
Hon.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
lawyers  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  applied  himself  with 
characteristic  diligence  to  the  study  of  Blackstone's 
Commentaries.  Had  he  chosen  the  law,  which  at  that 
time  probably  offered  more  attractions  to  his  mind  than 
any  other,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  would  have 
taken  a  high  rank  with  the  most  aspiring  of  his  contem- 
poraries. But  the  law,  honorable  and  useful  as  it  is, 
was  not  to  be  his  profession.  His  health  failed  him 
before  the  end  of  the  first  year ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
second  year  after  his  graduation  he  was  chosen  tutor, 
and  returned  to  his  college,  where  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  office  with  honor  to  himself  and  the  insti- 
tution, for  about  two  years.  While  there,  he  devoted 
his  leisure  to  the  study  of  English  composition  and 
literature,  of  which  he  was  extremely  fond,  and  per- 


24-  LTFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

fected  that  pure  idiomatic  and  transparent  style  for 
which  he  was  so  remarkably  distinguished. 

Leaving  college  once  more,  what  should  he  do  next? 
The  state  of  his  health  required  active  services  of  some 
kind,  and  a  business  commission,  which  was  offered 
him  by  a  large  commercial  house  in  New  York,  took 
him  over  the  Alleghany  Mountains  on  an  agency,  which 
was  at  once  invigorating  to  his  constitution,  and 
profitable  to  his  employers.  This  prepared  the  way 
for  his  entering  as  a  clerk,  soon  after  his  return,  into  a 
respectable  counting  room,  intending,  it  is  presumed, 
to  devote  his  life  to  merchandise. 

But  this  was  not  the  will  of  Providence.  God  had 
more  important  work  for  him  to  do :  a  work  for 
which  he  was  better  qualified,  we  believe,  than  any 
other  young  man,  whose  services  could  have  been 
secured.  The  great  and  only  deficiency  was,  he  had 
not  yet  given  his  heart  to  God.  And  j  ust  here  it  was 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  interposed  to  supply  the  deficiency; 
opened  his  eyes  to  his  guilty  and  lost  condition,  and 
as  he  tremblingly  hoped,  brought  him  out  of  dark- 
ness, into  the  light  and  liberty  of  the  Gospel.  He  soon 
after  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ, 
and  united  with  the  First  Congregational  Church  in 
Hartford,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Nathan 
Strong. 

Whatever  his  plans  for  life  may  have  been  up  to 
this  time,  they  were  now  changed.  Eelinquishing  his 
nattering  mercantile  prospects,  he  turned  his  thoughts 
to  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1811,  entered  the 
Andover  Theological  Seminary.  Availing  himself  of 
its  distinguished  advantages,  he  passed  through  the 
prescribed  course  of  studies,  took  his  diploma  at  the 


REV.   TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  25 

anniversary  in  1814,  and,  better  furnished  to  fill  any 
pulpit  which  he  might  have  chosen,  than  most  others, 
he  was  licensed  and  commenced  preaching  with  such 
acceptance,  that  many  congregations  would  gladly 
have  secured  his  permanent  labor. 

Here  again,  his  Master  unexpectedly  interposed. 
He  might  preach  the  Gospel,  and  did  preach,  almost 
regularly,  as  will  appear,  till  the  last  year  of  his  life ; 
but  the  work  of  a  settled  pastor  was  not  the  great 
mission  for  which  God  had  been  preparing  him.  He  was 
to  enter  a  new  and  then  unexplored  field  of  Christian 
philanthropy  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  and  to  devote 
his  life  to  services,  of  far  wider  influence,  than  any 
pulpit  could  command.  To  prepare  the  way  for  this 
eminently  useful  mission,  God  had  visited  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  worthy  families  in  Hartford,  with 
a  sore  and  lasting  affliction.  A  lovely  daughter  of 
remarkable  promise,  had,  when  about  two  years  old, 
been  stricken  with  the  spotted  fever,  which  barely 
spared  her  life,  and  entirely  deprived  her  of  hearing, 
so  that  in  all  her  bloom  and  sprightliness,  she  grew  up 
a  deaf  mute,  and  of  course  lost  even  the  sweet  lisping, 
which  through  the  livelong  day  charmed  the  family 
circle,  when  the  intricate  avenue  of  sound  was  sud- 
denly closed  for  ever ! 

But  what,  it  may  be  asked,  had  this  sore  visitation 
to  do  with  changing  the  plans  of  the  young  preacher, 
and  giving  a  new  direction  to  his  whole  future  life  ? 
"  Much  every  way."  "Whatever  other  purposes  of 
God,  who  "  worketh  all  things  according  to  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will,"  may  have  been  bound  up  in 
this  afflictive  Providence,  we  cannot  for  a  moment 
doubt,  that  it  was  intended  to  prepare  the  way  for 
2 


26  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

unstopping  the  ears  of  thousands,  and  pouring  the 
light  of  knowledge  and  salvation  into  their  dark  minds, 
and  causing  their  hearts  to  sing  for  joy,  who  but  for 
the  eclipse  of  this  lovely  star  would  never  have  been 
so  blessed. 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  27 


CHAPTER    II. 

No  strange  thing  happened,  when  Alice  Cogswell, 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell,  in  the  city  of 
Hartford,  was  deprived  of  hearing  and  speech.  It 
was  a  ranch  more  common  calamity  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut  and  throughout  the  land  than  had  been 
supposed.  There  were  thousands  of  deaf  mutes  in  this 
country,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  received  that 
systematic  instruction,  which  had  begun  to  wake  up 
some  of  the  same  unhappy  class,  as  it  were  to  a  new 
existence,  in  Europe.  Probably,  not  one  of  their 
friends  at  that  time,  indulged  the  hope,  that  the  light 
of  education  and  religion  would  ever,  by  any  process, 
dispel  the  darkness  from  their  minds.  And  had  Alice 
Cogswell  belonged  to  one  of  the  poor  families  in 
Hartford,  however  worthy,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  her  case  would  have  led  to  such  inquiries  and 
measures  as  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Asylum 
in  Hartford,  for  the  education  of  deaf  mutes,  which  has 
since  been  so  thronged  with  pupils,  and  which  is  the 
parent  of  all  the  schools  of  this  class,  that  have  since 
sprung  up  in  other  sections  of  the  United  States. 

Happily,  Dr.  Cogswell  had  heard  of  the  success 
attending  the  schools  then  beginning  to  attract  public 
attention  and  hope  in  Great  Britain  and  France.  One 
of  the  books  of  the  Abbe  Sicard,  the  distinguished 


28  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

head  of  the  school  in  Paris,  fell  into  his  hands,  and 
kindled  a  hope  in -his  anxious  bosom,  that  his  own  be- 
loved daughter  might  be  educated  by  the  new  method 
of  signs,  in  place  of  oral  instruction.  But  where  ? 
Should  he  send  her  abroad  or  endeavor  to  educate  her 
at  home  ?  How  could  it  be  done  at  home,  as  there 
was  no  such  school  in  this  country,  and  not  a  single 
individual  who  understood  the  system? 

His  next  step  was,  to  institute  inquiries  with  regard 
to  the  number  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  Connecticut ; 
and  it  was  found  to  be  so  much  greater  than  anybody 
had  imagined,  that  he  believed  enough  might  be  gather- 
ed in  New  England  alone,  to  form  a  pretty  large  school. 
But  it  would  cost  money,  and  could  not  be  done 
without  substantial  cooperation.  Happily,  there  was 
no  difficulty  in  finding  so  much  encouragement,  that 
an  association  was  formed  in  Hartford,  consisting  of 
names  which  should  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance 
by  all  the  friends  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  coun- 
try, as  well  as  by  the  thousands  who  have  already  shared 
so  richly  in  the  unspeakable  blessings  of  the  system  of 
education,  which  that  association  inaugurated.  But 
the  establishment  of  a  school  would  require  more 
means  than  they  could  spare  ;  and  the  next  move  was 
to  issue  a  circular,  asking  for  aid  in  the  preliminary 
steps  which  must  be  taken  towards  the  attainment  of 
the  object. 

So  encouraging  was  the  response,  that  the  associa- 
tion resolved  to  go  forward,  relying  upon  His  smiles 
who  delights  to  prosper  all  good  enterprises.  But 
where  could  a  competent  teacher  be  found  ?  This  was 
likely  to  be  more  difficult  than  to  raise  the  necessary 
funds  —  for  no  one  in  this  country  understood  the  sys- 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  29 

tern  of  symbolic  instruction  —  somebody  must  be  sent 
abroad  to  study  it,  and  qualify  himself  for  the  task. 
Who  should  go?  It  must  be  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
capacity,  attainments  and  aptitude,  and  where  was  he 
to  be  found  ? 

God,  who  is  never  at  a  loss  for  instruments  to 
accomplish  his  benevolent  purposes,  had  been  prepar- 
ing a  young  man  for  the  new  enterprise.  This  was 
Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  one  of  their  own  citizens,  and 
then  a  popular  candidate  for  the  ministry.  Without 
the  remotest  thought  of  such  an  agency,  he  had,  in  his 
vacations  at  home,  while  studying  his  profession,  become 
deeply  interested  in  the  unhappy  condition  of  Alice 
Cogswell,  then  about  ten  years  of  age.  He  saw  that 
she  was  a  child  of  remarkable  promise,  if  her  intellect 
could  any  how  be  developed.  As  his  father's  and  her 
father's  gardens  alone  separated  the  two  families,  and 
he  saw  her  every  day,  he  became  more  and  more 
interested  in  her,  and  succeeded,  better  than  any  one 
else,  in  conversing  with  her  by  manual  signs,  and 
teaching  her  the  names  of  persons  and  things  by  sim- 
ple sentences ;  these  favorable  beginnings  led  her 
friends  to  hope  that  she  might  even  be  taught  to  read 
and  write,  without  being  sent  abroad. 

Blessed  be  God,  the  time  had  come  to  take  the  first 
step.  Here  was  the  very  man  wanted  for  the  enter- 
prise. ISTo  one  else,  I  believe,  was  thought  of.  His 
fine  education,  gentlemanly  manners,  attractive  social 
qualities,  philosophical  turn  of  mind,  undoubted  piety, 
and  growing  sympathy  for  the  large  class  of  deaf 
mutes  wholly  uncarcd  for  in  this  country,  recom- 
mended him  as  preeminently  qualified  for  the  task  of 
pouring  the  light  of  a  new  being  into  their  dark  minds. 


30  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 

But  could  lie  be  persuaded  to  embark  in  an  untried 
service,  of  so  much  labor  and  responsibility,  which 
might  break  down  a  constitution  rather  feeble  at  the 
best,  and  in  an  enterprise,  too,  which  the  public  might 
not  yet  be  prepared  to  sustain?  When  asked,  "  Will 
you  go  ?  "  it  was  a  trying  question  to  answer.  The 
Christian  ministry  was  his  chosen  profession.  Would 
it  be  right  to  give  it  up  for  any  other  ?  And  if  it 
would,  had  he  such  talents  and  acquirements  as  were 
demanded,  to  ensure  success,  when  so  much  would 
depend  upon  the  ability  and  popularity  of  the  first 
teacher  ?  In  a  word,  though  the  choice  had  unani- 
mously fallen  upon  him,  and  with  no  common  ur- 
gency, was  the  voice  of  God  in  it?  "Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  was  the  only  question  with 
him,  and  a  prayerful  consideration  of  the  subject 
in  its  wide  and  momentous  bearings,  brought  him 
to  the  conclusion,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  embark  in 
the  enterprise,  and  with  characteristic  promptitude 
he  made  his  arrangements  for  entering  at  once  upon 
the  service. 

To  Alice  Cogswell. 

"  New  York,  May  14th,  1815. 
"  Dear  Alice, — In  a  few  days  I  shall  go  into  the 
ship.  If  God  keeps  me  from  all  danger,  I  shall  be 
in  England  in  a  few  weeks.  You  must  not  forget 
what  you  told  me  you  would  do  every  morning  and 
evening.  Pray  to  God,  that  he  will  keep  me  alive 
and  safe,  and  bring  me  back  again  to  Hartford.  Pray 
to  him  to  blot  out  all  your  past  sins,  all  that  you  have 
done  wrong,    all  that  you  have  thought  wrong,  all 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  31 

that  you  have  felt  wrong.  Pray  to  him  to  make  you 
feel  very  sorry  that  you  have  been  wicked.  Pray 
to  him  to  make  your  heart  good,  and  to  make  you 
love  his  son  Jesus  Christ.  Get  somebody  to  help 
you  to  understand  a  verse  in  the  Bible  every  day, 
and  then  think  about  it.  If  you  could  understand  ~ 
the  Bible  as  well  as  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  I  know  you 
would  be  very  glad,  and  read  it  a  great  deal.  I  hope 
when  I  come  back,  to  teach  you  much  about  the  Bible, 
and  about  God,  and  Christ,  and  the  world  where  we 
shall  all  be  after  we  die.  I  hope  God  will  keep  you 
alive  till  I  come  back ;  but  if  he  should  take  your 
soul  into  the  other  world,  I  pray  him  to  receive  you 
into  heaven,  where  you  may  be  always  good  and 
happy. 

"  Your  true  friend, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 

Furnished  with  letters  of  introduction  to  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  philanthropists  in  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  also  to  the  heads  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Schools,  in  London  and  Edinburgh,  he  embarked 
at  New  York  for  Liverpool,  on  the  25th  of  May, 
1815,  where,  after  a  pleasant  voyage,  he  arrived  on 
the  25th  of  June. 


To  Mr.  Ward  Woodbridge. 

"  London,  July  10th,  1815. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  wrote  you  a  few  lines  from  Liver- 
pool, about  a  fortnight  since,  which  I  hope  will  reach 
you.     I  arrived  here  on  the  5th  instant,  after  having 
passed  through  a  most  delightful  tract  of  country. 


32  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

The  season  of  the  year  was  such,  as  to  invest  the 
scenery  with  its  sweetest  charms ;  and  I  think  there 
is  a  delicacy  and  grace  in  the  English  landscape, 
which  far  surpasses  anything  of  the  kind  in  our  own 
country.  The  gentle  undulations  of  hill  and  dale; 
the  rich  and  varied  verdure  of  the  field  and  foliage  ; 
the  extreme  neatness  that  everywhere  prevails;  the 
nnmerous  intersections  of  green  hedges;  the  pic- 
turesque character  of  the  buildings,  from  the  thatched 
roofed  cottage,  with  its  little  garden  of  flowers  before 
the  door,  to  the  stately  palace  and  the  ruined  castle, 
all  blend  together,  and  present  to  the  eye  of  the 
stranger  an  impression  more  like  the  single  effect 
of  a  fine  piece  of  painting,  than  anything  else  to 
which  I  can  compare  it.  Nor  was  I  without  high 
intellectual,  and  I  may  say  religious  gratification 
on  my  route.  At  Leicester,  I  spent  the  Sabbath, 
and  became  acquainted  with  the  famous  Eobert  Hall, 
whose  sermons  I  dare  say  you  have  read.  It  was  his 
communion  Sabbath.  I  called  at  his  house  just  before 
the  morning  service,  and  went  with  him  to  his  chapel, 
which  is  quite  a  small  building  in  an  obscure  part  of  the 
town.  All  the  dissenting  places  of  public  worship 
are  called  chapels.  Mr.  Hall's  discourse  was  from 
these  words,  I  think  in  the  last  chapter  of  Eevelation, 
"  There  shall  be  no  more  curse  there."  His  subject 
was  set  forth  in  a  very  plain,  perspicuous,  and  affec- 
tionate, manner,  with  considerable  feeling.  There 
was  nothing  in  his  style,  or  expression,  or  turn  01 
thought,  very  remarkable  or  eloquent.  Yet  there  was 
a  charm  cast  over  the  whole — a  delicacy,  a  tenderness, 
a  simplicity,  in  short,  an  accommodation  of  a  great 
and  lofty  spirit  to  the   weak  comprehension  of  even 


REV.   TITOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  33 

the  lambs  of  his  flock,  which  raised  my  admiration 
more  than  the  grandest  display  of  his  decidedly  pow- 
erful talents  would  have  done.  His  manner  is  easy 
and  familiar.  Sometimes  he  is  leaning  a  little  on  one 
arm,  and  sometimes  on  the  other,  on  the  pulpit.  His 
action  is  chaste  and  striking ;  and  when  he  becomes 
animated,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  it.  He  is  rather 
above  the  middle  stature,  of  an  athletic  make,  and 
in  his  whole  person  giving  marks  of  great  strength 
and  vigor.  His  face  is,  so  to  speak,  on  a  large  scale, 
indicating  great  intrepidity  of  thought  and  character ; 
and  yet  his  tone  of  voice  and  manner  in  conversation, 
are  remarkably  sweet  and  engaging.  I  witnessed 
his  family  devotions  in  the  evening,  and  there  was 
something  in  his  prayer  which  said,  what  he  well 
knew  and  felt,  that  the  real  saint  has  always  in  re- 
membrance the  injunction  of  our  Savior,  which 
requires  of  his  followers  to  become  like  little  children. 
Mr.  Hall,  though  a  Baptist,  is  most  liberal  in  his 
feelings  towards  other  Christian  sects.  His  congre- 
gation are  in  part  Independents,  who,  of  course,  have 
their  children  baptized  by  some  other  clergyman. 
Oh,  that  the  spirit  of  Catholicism  could  pervade  all 

the  Christian  World ! 

"T.  H.  G." 

It  was  confidently  expected  that  Mr.  Gallaudet's  tes- 
timonials would  give  him  free  access  to  the  London 
and  Edinburgh  schools,  and  it  was  not  doubted  that 
every  facility  would  be  afforded  him  for  qualifying 
himself,  in  as  short  a  time  as  might  be  necessary,  to 
return,  and  take  charge  of  a  similar  school  in  this 
country.  But  in  this  he  was  disappointed. 
2* 


34  LIFE   AXD   LABORS   OF 

These  schools,  in  England  and  Scotland,  were 
private  establishments,  and  though  the  proprietors 
and  teachers,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  perhaps, 
treated  him  with  personal  courtesy,  they  had  bound 
themselves  by  rules  and  restrictions,  which  virtually 
shut  him  out.  The  only  condition  on  which  they 
were  willing  to  receive  him,  was,  that  he  should 
enter  the  lowest  class  as  a  pupil,  and  pass  regularly 
through  the  prescribed  three  years'  course.  To  this 
he  could  not  assent.  He  believed  he  could  accom- 
plish it  in  a  much  shorter  time.  He  asked  to  be 
admitted  to  the  school  in  London  on  trial  for  a  few 
weeks,  hoping  by  his  proficiency  to  gain  more  favor- 
able terms,  but  all  in  vain.  It  must  be  three  years  or 
nothing. 

Here  I  am  strongly  tempted  to  quote  largely  from 
Mr.  Grallaudet's  journal,  showing  how  he  was  met  with 
objections  and  delays  at  every  point ;  being  sent  back- 
wards and  forwards,  from  the  committee  to  the  teachers, 
and  from  the  teachers  to  the  committee,  without 
getting  a  definite  answer,  till  "  hope  deferred  made  his 
heart  sick."  It  would  be  easy  to  show,  that  viewed 
in  the  most  favorable  light,  there  was  a  want  of 
sympathy  and  liberality,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
had  the  keys  of  the  London  school,  which  could  not 
have  been  anticipated.  But  it  was  so  long  ago,  and 
the  times  are  now  so  much  changed,  that  it  is  better, 
perhaps,  to  let  it  pass.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  after 
being  kept  in  suspense  six  weeks  in  London,  every 
day  of  which  Mr.  Gallaudet  wanted,  for  the  advantages 
the  school  might  have  afforded  him,  he  received  the 
following  letter,  enclosing  the  final  decision  of  the 
committee. 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  35 

"  Loxdox,  August  10th,  1815. 
"  Sir, — I  am  requested  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy 
of  a  resolution  which  the  sub-committee  have  this  day 
agreed  upon,  after  having  considered  your  application 
referred  to  them,  and  which  it  is  their  intention  to 
present  to  the  committee  on  Monday  next,  at  the 
Asylum  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 

"I  am,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

"  STEPHEN  HOUGH,  Chairman. 

"  '  Resolved,  That  after  mature  deliberation,  taking 
into  view  the  due  discipline  of  the  Asylum,  and  the 
proper  time  requisite  to  qualify  an  effective  instructor 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  auditors  in  connection 
with  Dr.  Watson,  beg  to  recommend  to  the  committee, 
to  allow  Mr.  Gallaudet  to  be  received  into  the  Asylum 
for  one  month,  upon  liking,  with  a  view,  that  upon 
the  expiration  of  that  period,  he  shall  be  engaged  as 
an  assistant  for  three  years,  on  the  usual  terms,  with 
power  to  Dr.  Watson  to  relieve  him  from  his  engage- 
ment sooner,  if  it  shall  appear  that  Mr.  Gallaudet  is 
qualified  before  the  end  of  that  time.'  " 

This  put  Mr.  Gallaudet  entirely  in  Dr.  "Watson's 
power,  who  had  again  and  again  insisted,  that  the 
whole  term  of  three  years  would  be  necessary ;  and  here 
the  long  and  perplexing  negotiation  closed.  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet conducted  it,  throughout,  in  a  manner  which 
was  highly  creditable  to  his  sound  judgment,  untiring 
perseverance,  and  disinterested  efforts  to  secure  the 
great  and  only  object  of  his  mission.  As  he  embarked 
in  it  with  all  his  heart,  so  it  appears  to  have  absorbed 
all  his  time  and  thoughts  during  his  whole  absence. 
It  may  well  be  doubted,  whether  any  man  of  his  edu- 


36  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

cation  and  cultivated  taste,  ever  visited  Great  Britain 
and  France  for  the  first  time,  without  allowing  himself 
more  leisure  for  sight-seeing,  than  he  did.  Under  al- 
most any  circumstances,  the  galleries  of  paintings,  the 
museums,  libraries,  and  other  objects  of  deep  interest 
to  foreign  travelers,  would  have  allured  him  by  their 
inexhaustible  attractions,  and  afforded  him  the  highest 
gratification ;  but  his  heart  was  every  day  and  hour 
yearning  over  the  unhappy  class  of  deaf  mutes  at 
home,  in  whose  behalf  he  had  crossed  the  sea,  and  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  qualify  himself  as  soon  as  possible, 
to  return  and  give  them  the  benefit  of  his  acquire- 
ments. His  journal  reminds  us  more  of  John  How- 
ard, who  saw  nothing,  thought  of  nothing,  but  the  jails 
and  prisons  which  he  visited  in  foreign  countries,  than 
any  other  that  has  yet  fallen  under  our  notice. 

Leaving  London  on  the  24th  of  August,  1815,  Mr. 
Gallaudet  embarked  for  Edinburgh,  and  arrived  at 
Leith  on  the  27th.  Without  loss  of  time,  he  delivered 
his  letter  of  introduction  to  James  F.  Gordon,  Esq., 
Secretary  of  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  in 
that  city.  Mr.  Gordon  cordially  received  him,  and  at 
once  gave  him  a  note  to  Mr.  Eobert  Kinniburgh,  the 
principal  of  that  flourishing  school,  and  to  whom  Mr. 
Gallaudet  explained  the  object  of  his  visit.  But  here 
again,  he  was  to  meet  with  another  sore  disappoint- 
ment. After  spending  more  than  a  month,  between 
hope  and  discouragement,  in  urging  his  request  for  ad- 
mittance, to  receive  instruction  in  the  modes  of  teach- 
ing, Mr.  Gordon  stated  to  him,  that  with  every  wish  to 
forward  his  benevolent  mission,  he  was  sorry  that 
there  was  an  obstacle,  and  an  insuperable  one,  he  feared, 
to  complying  with  his  request :  that  four  years  ago, 


REV.   TIIOS.    n.   GALLAUDET.  37 

Mr.  Kinniburgh,  as  a  condition  of  receiving  instruction, 
himself,  for  the  place  which  he  now  held,  had  entered 
into  a  contract,  under  a  bond  of  £1000,  not  to  commu- 
nicate the  method,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  indi- 
vidual for  the  space  of  seven  years. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  charitably  thought  that  the  condi- 
tions of  the  bond  could  not  have  been  intended  to 
exclude  foreigners,  who  might  wish  to  qualify  them- 
selves for  establishing  similar  schools  in  their  own 
countries,  and  thus  extend  the  blessings  of  the  system. 
He  argued  the  point  with  much  ingenuity  and  earnest- 
ness. But  the  committee,  to  whom  the  question  was 
finally  submitted,  decided  against  him,  and  there  the 
matter  ended.  It  may  seem  strange  to  us,  that  any 
bond  at  all  was  required  of  Mr.  Kinniburgh.  But 
when  it  was  given,  the  monopoly  for  a  limited  time 
seems  to  have  been  thought  reasonable  to  remunerate 
Mr.  Braidwood,  who  inaugurated  the  English  system 
of  deaf  mute  instruction,  considering  the  priceless 
blessings  of  education  which  it  would  ultimately  bestow 
upon  the  very  large  class  of  persons  for  whose  instruc- 
tion no  other  method  had  been  devised. 

That  the  enlightened  philanthropists  of  Edinburgh 
and  London  extremely  regretted  the  restrictions  which 
wasted  so  much  of  Mr.  Gallaudet's  precious  time,  and 
blasted  his  hopes,  appears  in  the  following  extracts  of 
letters,  which  he  received  after  he  left  the  island: 

"  London,  Jan'y  1st,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — A  pressure  of  engagements  has  pre- 
vented an  earlier  reply  to  the  letter  you  favored  me  with 
last  week ;  but  I  am  unwilling  to  defer  it  longer,  though 
it  may  not  be  in  the  satisfactory  manner  I  could  wish. 


33  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"  It  is  really  a  grief  to  me  to  learn,  that  your  benev- 
olent design  in  visiting  this  country  is  likely  to  be 
defeated,  and  I  cannot  but  view  it  as  a  national  re- 
proach, that  it  should  be  the  case,  though  the  disap- 
pointment may  arise  from  the  selfish  or  narrow  spirit 
of  individuals.  It  can  be  no  matter  of  surprise,  that 
you  should  feel  disheartened,  as  a  very  different  recep- 
tion might  have  been  justly  expected;  still,  as  regards 
yourself,  individually,  it  is  an  exercise  of  faith,  to 
which,  through  Divine  aid,  you  may  be  made  equal, 
looking  above  second  causes,  and  viewing  the  hearts 
of  men  as  under  a  superior  control.  How  unable 
is  feeble  man  to  foresee  the  designs  of  Omnipotence, 
and  how  often  may  the  Christian  look  back  in  his 
journey,  and  exclaim,  l  Thanks  be  to  God  for  such  a 
trial,  for  such  a  disappointment ;  his  ways  are  indeed  in 
the  deep,  and  his  footsteps  are  past  finding  out ! '  In 
the  visit  which  you  are  designing  to  make  to  Paris, 
some  opportunity  of  usefulness  may  be  preparing,  of 
which  you  are  little  aware ;  it  may  be,  in  that  great 
city,  the  Master,  whom  you  serve,  is  intending  to  make 
you  the  instrument  of  good  to  one  and  another  that 
you  think  not  of.  Be  not  then  discouraged,  *  in  due 
time  you  shall  reap  if  you  faint  not ; '  and  inasmuch 
as  it  is  in  your  heart  to  promote  the  eternal  interests 
of  your  perishing  fellow-creatures,  the  intention,  at 
least,  will  be  accepted.  Audit  is  our  undoubted  duty 
to  leave  every  issue  to  Him  who  sees  the  end  from  the 
beginning ;  whose  ways  and  whose  thoughts  transcend 
our  finite  conception  as  the  heaven  is  above  the  earth. 
"Iara,  Dear  Sir,  yours, 

"  With  much  regard, 

"JOSIAH  ROBERTS." 


REV.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  39 

Extract  of  Letters  from  Eobert  Kinniburgh,  Princi- 
pal of  the  Deaf  and  Bumh  Asylum  in  Edinburgh. 

"Edinburgh,  April  16th,  1816. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, —  Did  I  not  know  that  you  possess  a 
considerable  portion  of  that  charity  which  thinketh  no 
evil,  I  should  be  afraid  of  being  charged  with  a  breach 
of  promise.  When  you  left  here,  I  certainly  did  ex- 
pect to  write  you  sooner.  But  our  Eeport  has  been 
much  longer  in  the  printer's  hands  than  we  at  first 
expected;  and  as  I  have  just  heard,  by  accident,  that 
you  have  reached  Paris,  I  send  you  a  few  copies  by 
the  way  of  London,  trusting  they  will  reach  you  in 
safety.  I  have  also  learned  that  you  met  with  a  warm 
reception  from  the  Abbe  Sicard ;  and  by  this  time 
you  will  be  able  to  judge,  if  you  are  likely  to  reap  any 
material  advantage  from  his  course. 

"  Permit  me  once  more,  unfeignedly  to  express  my 
regret,  that  circumstances  well  known  to  you,  prevent- 
ed me  from  furthering  the  benevolent  object  of  your 
journey  to  this  country.  I  believe  I  shall  always  be 
glad  to  hear  of  your  success  and  prosperity,  and  shall 
be  happy  to  have  the  honor  of  ranking  among  your 
list  of  correspondents. 

"  Yours,  ever  truly, 

"  EOBERT  KINNIBUEGH." 


From  the  same. 

"  June  14th,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  was  favored  with  yours  a  few 
days  ago,  and  as  an  opportunity  offers  itself  by  the 
way  of  London,  I  embrace  it  to  send  you  a  few  more 


40  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

of  our  reports.  I  am  happy  to  understand  that  you 
have  met  with  such  a  kind  reception,  and  are  liking 
Paris  so  well,  and  have  the  prospect  of  reaping  benefit 
from  your  instructions.  All  I  shall  say  at  present, 
with  regard  to  the  system  of  teaching  the  deaf  and 
dumb  —  be  it  English,  Scotch,  or  French — -vain  and 
useless  is  that  system,  that  does  not  take  advantage  of 
every  avenue  to  the  mind.  I  can  easily  see  that  the 
blackboard  may  be  of  service  in  some  cases,  but  not  in 
all.  Don't  you  think  that  slates  would  serve  the  pur- 
pose much  better  ?  Do  all  the  class  write  on  the  same 
board  ?  In  what  way  do  you  ascertain  that  they  com- 
prehend what  is  written,  if  they  do  not  write  themselves? 
Is  it  by  signs,  or  by  spelling  on  the  fingers  ?  It  is  of 
the  last  importance  that  they  fully  comprehend  what  is 
given  them,  so  that  in  a  few  days  afterwards,  in  going 
over  the  same  ground,  they,  in  their  turn,  may  be  able 
to  give  an  explanation.  m  Be  so  good  as  to  present  my 
most  respectful  compliments  to  the  Abbe,  and  believe 
me  to  be,  Your  sincere  friend, 

"  R.  KINNIBURGH." 

When  Mr.  Gallaudet  left  Edinburgh,  one  resource 
still  remained.  Soon  after  he  arrived  in  London,  he 
had  been  providentially  introduced  to  the  Abbe  Sicard, 
the  renowned  head  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  in 
Paris,  who  was  then  delivering  a  course  of  lectures  to 
large  audiences,  who  invited  him  to  cross  the  Channel, 
with  the  assurance  that  every  facility  should  be 
granted  him  in  that  school ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
Abbe  himself  would  give  him  private  instruction,  as 
he  devoted  a  portion  of  his  time  to  those  who  wished 
to  acquire  his  art  for  the  sake  of  using  it  in  their 


EEV.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  41 

own  country.  Mr.  Gallaudet  now  resolved  to  avail 
himself  of  the  generous  offer,  as  soon  as  he  could  to 
the  best  advantage.  He  would  gladly  have  gone  to 
Paris  at  once.  The  reasons  why  he  did  not,  he  gives 
in  the  following  letter,  under  date  of  August  10th, 
1815: 

"As  the  political  state  of  France  is  apparently  very 
unsettled,  and  as  the  season  of  the  year  is  consider- 
ably advanced,  I  have  concluded  to  spend  a  few 
months  here  before  proceeding  to  Paris.  Indeed,  I 
think  this  will  conduce  not  a  little  to  the  furtherance 
of  my  general  object.  I  shall  attend  the  lectures  of 
Dr.  Brown,  on  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind, 
with  which,  in  reference  to  my  intended  pursuit,  I 
ought  to  be  thoroughly  acquainted.  I  shall  read  the 
Abbe  Sicard's  treatises  on  the  instruction  of  deaf 
mutes,  and  endeavor,  also,  to  acquire  a  greater  famili- 
arity with  the  French  language  than  I  now  have,  by 
which  means,  if  I  visit  Paris,  I  shall  be  enabled,  in  a 
short  time,  as  I  hope,  to  derive  all  the  instruction  from 
the  Abbe  which  I  need,  and  by  the  spring  it  will 
probably  be  determined  what  the  state  of  France 
will  be." 

MISCELLANEOUS  LETTEES. 


To  Alice  Cogswell. 

"  London,  August  15th,  1815. 

"  Dear  Alice, — Three  thousand  miles  are  between 

us ;  yet  I  do  not  forget  you  nor  your  dear  father  and 

mother,  and  sister  and  brother.     How  are  you  all  ?     I 

want  once  more  to  see  you  all,  and  I  shall  see  you,  if 


42  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

God  keeps  us  all  alive  till  we  meet.  Do  you  ever 
think  of  the  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  the 
little  meeting-house,  too,  about  which  we  used  to  talk 
when  I  last  saw  you  ?  I  have  seen  a  great  many  deaf 
and  dumb  persons  in  England.  I  have  seen  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  boys  and  girls  in  the  same  school. 
Dr.  Watson  wanted  me  to  stay  with  him  three  years 
to  learn  to  teach  you  and  the  other  deaf  and  dumb 
persons  in  America.  I  could  not  do  this.  It  is  too 
long  a  time.  So  I  must  go  to  Edinburgh,  where  I 
hope  they  will  be  more  kind  to  me.  I  talked  with  a 
number  of  the  scholars  here.  Some  of  them  speak 
very  well.  With  some  I  talked  on  a  slate.  I  wrote 
this  question  to  one  of  the  boys,  '  What  do  you  think 
of  Jesus  Christ  ? '  He  wrote,  '  I  think  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  friend  of  all  penitent  sinners,  and  deserves  to  be 
adored  and  loved  for  his  great  kindness.'  And  do 
not  you  think  so,  too  ?  We  ought  all  to  think  so,  for 
we  have  all  sinned,  and  God  is  angry  with  sinners ; 
but  he  will  forgive  us  if  we  will  be  sorry  for  our  sins, 
and  believe  on  his  son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  him, 
and  do  what  the  Bible  tells  us  we  must  do.  You 
pray  to  God,  I  hope,  to  lead  you  to  do  so.  If  you 
pray,  he  will  hear  you,  and  his  Spirit  will  make  you 
good.  I  hope  you  are  learning  every  day  something 
useful.  Learn  to  write  beautifully.  Study  some 
arithmetic  and  geography.  Look  at  persons'  lips 
when  they  speak,  and  try  to  see  if  you  can't  under- 
stand some  words  that  they  speak.  Get  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  to  speak  some  words  to  you,  such  as  chair, 
table,  door,  water,  fire,  run,  walk,  &c.  They  must 
speak  very  slowly,  and  you  must  try  to  remember 
how  their  lips  move.     Get  them  to  ask  you  questions 


REV.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  43 

on  paper,  and  try  to  answer  them ;  and  they  must  tell 
you  when  you  answer  wrong. 

"  I  am,  your  true  friend, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


To  the  same. 

"  Edinburgh,  January  22d,  1816. 
11  My  Dear  Alice, — Two  of  your  letters  have 
reached  me.  In  the  last  you  told  me  a  very  pretty 
story  about  Mr.  Colt,  and  you  wrote  it  very  well.  I 
was  very  glad  to  see  your  improvement.  I  know 
several  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  scholars  in  Mr.  Kinni- 
burgh's  school  here.  He  is  a  very  kind  and  faithful 
teacher ;  and  they  love  him  much.  One  of  the  girls 
is  named  Ellen  Hall.  She  is  about  sixteen  years 
old.  She  has  been  in  the  school  three  years.  She 
has  been  so  kind  as  to  write  you  a  letter.  I  asked 
her  to  do  it.  You  will  see  what  she  says  about  God 
in  it.  Mr.  Kinniburgh  teaches  his  scholars  to  know 
who  God  is,  and  who  Christ  is ;  and  he  teaches  them 
to  love  Christ,  because  Christ  died  to  save  sinners. 
Do  you  remember  how  I  tried  to  make  you  under- 
stand why  Christ  died  ?  I  hope  you  do  not  forget  to 
pray  to  God  every  morning  and  evening.  I  shall 
send  Mr.  Wood  bridge  a  long  prayer,  written  by  one  of 
the  scholars.  You  must  ask  Mr.  "Woodbridge  to 
show  you  this  prayer,  and  ask  your  mamma  to  make 
you  understand  it.  Give  my  love  to  your  papa  and 
mamma,  to  Mary  and  to  Elizabeth,  and  Catherine. 
Eemember  me,  too,  to  the  people  in  the  kitchen. 
"  From  your  true  friend, 

"  T.  H.  G." 


44  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

To  Mr.  Woodbridge. 

"  Edinburgh,  Sep.  30th,  1815. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — I  feel  a  deeper  interest  than  ever 
in  my  undertaking.  What  I  have  seen  in  this  part  of 
the  world  only  the  more  convinces  me,  of  the  in- 
sufficiency of  all  earthly  good.  There  is  no  path  of 
peace,  but  that  of  loving  Grod  and  living  to  his  glory. 
And  oh,  how  fully  should  we  realize  this  truth,  did 
we  conform  less  than  we  do  to  the  world.  The  more 
I  see  of  Christians,  the  more  I  am  convinced,  that  one 
of  their  greatest  sins  at  the  present  day  is  conformity 
to  the  world.  Indeed,  they  practice  in  this  but  little 
self  denial.  I  long  to  hear  of  the  religious  state  of 
Hartford,  and  especially  of  its  young  people.  I  have 
written  Dr.  Cogswell  and  several  others  of  my  friends 
since  I  came  here.  Please  tell  the  Doctor,  that  the 
philosophers  here,  and  Dugald  Stewart  at  their  head, 
take  a  deep  interest  in  Julia  Brace,  the  little  deaf,  dumb 
and  blind  girl,  and  that  I  ask  it  of  him  as  a  peculiar 
favor,  that  every  attention  be  shown  her,  which  can 
tend  to  prepare  her  to  become  my  protege  on  my 
return.  I  wish  an  experiment  to  be  fairly  tried  with 
her,  either  by  Dr.  C.  or  her  mother,  or  some  kind 
person  who  will  be  faithful  in  attending  to  it.  Let 
some  letters  be  made,  either  of  wood,  or  iron,  or  clay, 
about  half  an  inch  in  height,  so  that  their  shape  can 
be  easily  perceived  by  the  touch.  With  these  letters, 
placed  in  a  proper  order,  spell  the  names  of  some 
objects  with  which  she  used  to  be  most  familiar  before 
her  blindness,  and  which  she  knew  the  names  of  in 
her  spelling  book,  and  if  any  such  can  be  found  in 
which  she  still  takes  an  interest,  so  much  the  better. 


BET.   THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  45 

Whoever  undertakes  this  must  not  be  discouraged 
at  a  few  disappointments,  and  if  one  expedient  fails, 
let  him  try  another.  And  do  not  smile  at  all  this. 
The  blind  are  taught  to  read  by  the  touch  at  Paris 
and  Amsterdam." 


To  Mr.  Balph  Emerson. 

"  Edinburgh,  Jan.  11th,  1816. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  thank  you  cordially  for  your  kind 
letter,  and  for  the  interesting  matter  which  it  con- 
tained. It  was  written  in  one  of  the  happiest  of  your 
philosophical  moods,  the  true  picture  of  what  you  were 
at  Andover ;  and  more  gratifying  to  me  than  if  it  had 
been  full  of  what  you  remember  Ave  so  often  concluded 
was  of  little  use  between  friends.  I  think  it  most 
probable,  that  you  have  heard  ere  this,  of  my  un- 
successful application  for  admission  into  the  London 
Asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  Here  I  have  met 
with  new  difficulties.  The  Edinburgh  institution  is 
under  bonds  to  Mr.  Braidwood,  not  to  instruct  any  one 
who  intends  to  become  an  instructor. 

"I  shall  probably  soon  go  to  Paris,  where  I  have 
the  promise  from  the  Abbe  Sicard  himself,  of  every 
assistance  he  can  afford  me.  I  have  suffered  much 
from  my  disappointments.  This,  together  with  the 
extreme  variableness  and  humidity  of  the  climate  at 
this  season  of  the  year  in  Edinburgh,  has  often  quite 
prostrated  my  poor  animal  spirits.  Ah,  my  friend, 
you  are  one  of  the  few  who  can  understand  me  when 
I  say,  that  of  all  the  trials  which  God  in  his  infinite 
wisdom  sees  fit  to  impose  upon  man,  the  most  dreadful 


46  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

is  that  of  intellectual  and  moral  lethargy,  which  levels 
one  so  abjectly  in  the  dust,  leaving  no  power  of  re- 
action, while  the  dismal  degradation  is  enhanced  by 
the  remembrance  of  brighter,  happier,  holier  hours, 
and  by  the  conviction  that  all  this  is  the  mere  slavery 
of  the  soul ;  a  bondage  unto  which  it  is  held  by  a  few 
particles  of  perishable  dust. 

You  and  I  have  often  Dugald-ized  together,  and  I 
dare  say  you  will  remember  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  I  used  to  speak  of  the  possibility  of  seeing  Mr. 
Stewart.  A  curious  chain  of  Providences  gave  me 
this  gratification.  There  is  something  most  engaging 
about  him.  I  dare  not  attempt  to  describe  him,  for 
I  have  but  little  talent  at  tracing  stature,  and  form, 
and  voice,  and  physiognomy.  Dignity,  benevolence, 
modesty,  nay,  child-like  simplicity,  combined  with 
great  ease  and  elegance ;  and  when  I  saw  him,  softened 
almost  into  tenderness,  somewhat  like  melancholy — 
these  were  the  traits  of  manner  which  most  forcibly 
caught  my  attention,  and  I  have  often  thought  within 
myself,  why  cannot  some,  whose  radical  principles  of 
thought  and  action,  being  founded  on  the  precepts  of 
the  New  Testament,  should  lead  to  the  same  exterior 
of  deportment — why  cannot  they,  too,  adorn  with  its 
proper  graces  the  religion  which  they  profess  ?  And 
I  thought,  how  would  some  of  our  self-conceited, 
ostentatious,  confident,  domineering,  conversation-en- 
grossing, literary,  scrap- purring,  oracular,  dogmatical, 
would-be  great  folks,  hide  their  diminished  heads,  and 
blush  at  their  petty  greatness,  if  they  could  see  the 
chaste  modesty  of  one  of  the  greatest  philosophers  and 
scholars  of  Europe ! 

Mr.  Stewart's  successor  in  the  chair  of  moral  philos- 


EEV.   TIIOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  47 

ophy  is  Dr.  Thomas  Brown.  I  have  already  heard 
nearly  forty  of  his  lectures.  He  differs  from  all  his 
predecessors  in  his  views  of  the  human  mind.  He 
thinks  the  Scotch  metaphysicians  have  made  too  many 
divisions  of  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  mind,  and 
■  that  the  French  have  aimed  at  too  great  simplicity. 
He  pursues  a  middle  course.  In  general,  I  like  his 
nomenclature.  It  is  somewhat  new.  Of  the  essence  of 
the  mind  we  know  nothing.  We  only  know  its  states 
and  phenomena.  These  may  be  divided  into  internal 
and  external  affections.  The  latter  includes  all  that 
we  usually  call  sensations.  It  embraces  those  traits  of 
mind  whose  existence  and  modifications  depend  on 
external  objects.  The  former  includes  all  the  mental 
phenomena,  and  is  divided  into  intellectual  states  of 
mind  and  emotions.  Dr.  Brown  has  a  great  deal  of 
the  most  luxuriant  imagery  in  his  writing;  almost  too 
much  for  a  metaphysician,  and  abundance  of  classical 
allusion  and  quotations.  He  is  quite  a  young  man, 
unmarried,  and  his  family  is  made  up  of  his  mother 
and  sisters.  I  have  often  been  at  his  house,  and  lately 
at  a  conversational  party,  at  which  Professor  Playfair 
was  present,  remarkable  for  his  great  plainness,  sim- 
plicity and  modesty  of  manners  ;  a  venerable  man  of 
more  than  sixty  years  of  age.  I  cannot  finish  without 
a  moral.  Before  I  left  home,  could  I  have  wished  to 
be  transported  to  any  part  of  the  globe,  in  order  to 
enjoy  the  richest  treat  of  which  my  intellectual  nature 
was  susceptible,  it  would  have  been  my  first  desire  to 
have  been  placed  amid  the  very  scenes  through  which 
I  have  passed.  And  what  is  the  result  ?  A  stronger 
conviction  than  ever,  that  literary  grandeur,  "  this 
also  is  vanity ; "   and  that  he  best  consults  his  true 


48  LIFE   AND  LABORS   OF 

dignity  and  peace,  who  walks  humbly  with  his  God, 
in  whatever  sphere  of  usefulness  he  may  be  placed; 
and  that  to  be  the  means  of  saving  one  soul,  is  a  more 
desirable  blessing  than  to  hold  the  proudest  Tank 
among  the  learned,  or  to  enjoy  the  highest  of  those 
delights  whicji  literature  and  taste  claim  as  their 
own.    Do  not  fail  to  write  me. 

"  Affectionately  yours, 

"  T.  H.  G." 


To  Dr.  Cogswell. 

"Edinburgh,  Jan.  11, 1816. 
"  Dear  Sir, — Your  kind  letter,  by  Mr.  Upson,  I 
have  received,  enclosing  one  from  Alice,  for  both  of 
which  accept  my  thanks.  Alice's  letter  does  her  great 
credit,  and  gave  me  unspeakable  pleasure,  as  affording 
a  pledge  of  what  her  future  attainments  may  be,  if 
Providence  spares  her  life  and  succeeds  our  project. 
I  have  shown  Alice's  letter  to  several  of  our  friends 
here,  who  express  their  surprise  at  her  improvement, 
especially  when  the  disadvantages  under  which  she 
has  labored  are  considered.  Among  these  friends  are 
Mrs.  Grant,  the  authoress  of  ( Letters  from  the  Moun- 
tains,' and  Dr.  Thomas  Brown,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  in  the  University.  The  latter  takes  a  deep 
interest,  apparently,  in  my  enterprise.  He  has  re- 
quested copies  of  Alice's  letters,  which  I  have  given 
him,  and  he  lately  desired  me,  when  I  wrote  home,  to 
give  his  affectionate  regards  to  my  little  pupil.  We 
have  several  times  analyzed  together  Alice's  letters, 
in  order  to  discover  their  true  meaning — and  in  doing 
this,  I  have  been  surprised  at  Dr.  Brown's  acutencss 


REV.   TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  49 

and  subtlety  of  investigation.  He  lias  also  guided 
me  in  my  researches,  both,  by  giving  me  his  own 
thoughts,  and  by  furnishing  me  with  books  on  the 
instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  from  his  own  and 
the  University  library. 

"  One  day,  as  I  was  leaving  his  house,  he  said,  '  If 
I  were  not  engaged  in  my  duties  at  the  University,  I 
know  of  no  pursuit  in  which  I  could  take  more  delight 
than  in  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb.'  So 
you  see  I  ought  to  feel  the  importance  of  my  intended 
profession.  I  hope  I  do  feel  it,  and  from  a  better 
motive  than  any  which  this  world  can  afford.  I  long 
to  be  in  the  midst  of  my  deaf  and  dumb  children — 
for  such  I  mean  to  consider  them — and,  if  you  will 
believe  me,  I  look  forward  to  that  situation  with  eager 
anticipations  of  delight,  which  are  not  in  the  least 
diminished  by  the  scenes  of  novelty,  taste,  and  of 
splendor  which  surround  me.  I  think  I  have  realized, 
more  than  I  ever  did  before,  the  vanity  of  the  world, 
and  have  felt  that  not  even  the  grandeur  of  literary 
majesty,  far  above  the  pomp  of  the  warrior  or  the 
splendor  of  the  great,  can  bear  a  comparison  with  the 
simple  dignity  of  the  humblest  and  meekest  follower 
of  Him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in  heart. 

"I  begin  to  think  that  one  intention  of  Providence, 
in  permitting  some  men  to  reach  lofty  summits  of 
intellectual  excellence  while  their  hearts  are  strangers 
to  the  love  of  God,  is  to  illustrate,  in  the  clear  light 
of  the  approaching  future  world,  how  insignificant 
and  worthless  are  the  proudest  acquirements  and 
efforts  of  genius,  that  idol  of  literary  paganism,  when 
contrasted  with  the  silent  and  despised  graces  of 
moral  worth.  «T.  EL  G." 

3 


50  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

To  Mr.  Woodbridge. 

"  Edinburgh,  Dec.  6th,  1816. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  been  careful  to  write 
Dr.  Cogswell  and  yourself,  by  different  opportunities, 
giving  you  quite  in  detail  the  history  of  my  disap- 
pointments, for  so  I  must  call  them,  though  I  cannot 
but  hope  that  they  may  conduce,  under  the  blessing 
of  God,  to  the  furtherance  of  that  very  undertaking 
which  they  seem  to  retard  in  its  progress.  I  soon 
learned,  from  Mr.  Gordon,  that  I  was  here  to  encounter 
new  difficulties.  The  institution  is  under  bonds  to 
Mr.  Thomas  Braidwood,  of  Birmingham,  not  to  com- 
municate instruction  to  any  person  who  wishes  to 
become  a  teacher  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  under  the 
penalty  of  a  thousand  pounds.  Of  course  I  could 
hope  for  relief  in  no  other  way  than  by  influencing 
Mr.  B.  to  release  the  obligation  of  the  bond.  I  wrote 
him,  presenting  every  motive  I  could  think  of  that 
would  be  likely  to  succeed.  His  first  letter  was  en- 
couragiDg,  but  the  second  contained  a  flat  denial  of 
my  request.  Notwithstanding  his  refusal,  I  still  had 
hopes  that  the  committee  of  the  institution  might, 
upon  reflection,  consider  the  bond  as  an  illegal  one, 
or,  at  least,  as  not  applicable  to  my  case.  Many  of 
them,  and  Mr.  Gordon  among  the  rest,  were  in  the 
country,  and  I  had  to  wait  some  time  for  their  return. 
They  at  last  met,  and  were  unanimously  of  opinion, 
that  good  faith  required  of  them  a  strict  observance 
of  the  bond,  even  in  the  case  of  a  foreigner.  I  wish, 
however,  that  you  should  understand,  that  in  all  the 
intercourse  which  I  have  had  with  the  committee  and 
with  Mr.  Kinniburgh,  the  worthy  and  able  teacher  of 


REV.   TIIOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  51 

the  institution,  I  have  met  with  the  most  kind  and 
liberal  treatment ;  and  I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt, 
that  had  it  been  possible,  I  shonld  have  received  from 
the  institution,  gratuitously  and  cordially,  every  assist- 
ance which  it  could  afford  me.  These  events  occupied 
some  time.  The  season  had  advanced  considerably, 
and  several  reasons  determined  me  to  spend  a  few 
months  longer  in  Edinburgh.  Dr.  Thomas  Brown 
has  been  kind  enough,  from  time  to  time,  to  lend  me 
books  which  treat  directly  on  the  subject  of  my  in- 
tended pursuit.  I  have,  also,  been  attending  Dr. 
Brown's  lectures  on  the  philosophy  of  the  mind. 
"Yours  truly, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET.' 


Extract  from  Letter  to  Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell. 

"  Edinburgh. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  feel  peculiar  satisfaction  in  having 
been  introduced  to  Dugald  Stewart,  Esq.,  and  how  do 
you  think  I  found  access  to  him  ?  It  was  by  means 
of  Juha  Brace,  the  little  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  girl, 
the  importance  of  visiting  whom  I  so  strongly  urged 
upon  you,  as  you  no  doubt  recollect.  I  had  mentioned 
her  case  to  Dr.  Buchanan,  one  of  the  clergymen  of  this 
place,  observing  that  I  should  much  like  to  communi- 
cate the  facts  respecting  her  to  Mr.  Stewart.  He  hap- 
pened soon  to  be  in  town,  and  Dr.  B.  introduced  me  to 
him.  I  was  invited  to  spend  a  day  and  night  in  his 
family  at  Kinneil  House,  about  eighteen  miles  distant. 
I  did  so  a  few  days  since,  and  left  with  him  an  account 
of  Juha  Brace,  in  which  he  appeared  to  be  much  in- 


52  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

terested.  It  will  be  some  time  before  I  can  make  my 
final  arrangements  here.  I  rejoice,  however,  that  I 
came  to  Edinburgh.  The  men  of  science  have  taken  a 
deep  interest  in  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
I  am  now  reading  the  Abbe*  Sicard's  system  in  French, 
by  way  of  preparation,  in  case  I  should  visit  him  in 
Paris.  I  hope  my  friends  in  Hartford  will  continue  to 
remember  me  in  their  prayers,  that  I  may  be  carried 
through  this  arduous  undertaking  successfully.  I  long 
to  return.  I  feel  more  and  more  satisfied,  that  the  sim- 
ple, quiet,  retired  path  of  duty,  in  which  we  can  in 
some  way  or  other  serve  God  and  do  good  to  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  men,  is  the  only  path  of  peace.  Oh,  that 
we  might  all  be  enabled  to  walk  in  it !  During  the 
short  time  that  I  have  been  in  Edinburgh,  I  have  seen 
objects  and  formed  acquaintances,  which,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water,  would  in  prospect  have  filled  my  soul 
with  the  most  splendid  visions  of  delight.  To  tread 
this  classic  ground,  to  be  in  the  Athens  of  the  world, 
and  even  to  have  intercourse  with  some  of  its  greatest 
philosophers  and  literati — all  this  would  promise  much; 
but  it  has  all  served  to  convince  me  that  nothing  can 
satisfy  the  immortal  mind  but  God  himself;  and  that 
so  long  as  we  divide  our  hearts  between  Him  and  any 
other  object,  so  long  there  must  be  a  tumult  of  wretched- 
ness in  our  breasts.  May  Almighty  God  continue  to 
bless  you  all  with  every  temporal  and  spiritual  good 
"  Truly  yours, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


EEV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  53 

To  the  same. 

"  Edinburgh. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  expect  to  set  out  for  Paris  in  a 
few  days.  I  am  sure  of  success  there — I  mean  accord- 
ing to  all  human  probability.  How  long  it  will  take 
me  to  become  acquainted  with  the  Abbe's  s}rstem  is 
uncertain,  but  you  shall  hear  from  me  after  my  arrival. 
The  political  state  of  France  is  gloomy.  "What  scenes 
I  shall  witness  in  Paris  I  know  not.  To  God  I  com- 
mend myself,  and  it  is  my  earnest  request  that  my  good 
friends  in  Hartford  would  remember  me  in  their 
prayers. 

"  To-day  I  had  an  interview  with  Zachariah  Macaulay, 
Esq.,  editor  of  the  Christian  Observer.  Miss  Hannah 
More  was  kind  enough  to  send  me  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  him.  I  spend  next  Sabbath  at  his  house  at 
Clapham,  about  four  miles  from  town.  It  has  just 
come  to  my  mind  to  inform  you  that  I  left  with  Dugald 
Stewart  an  account  that  I  drew  up  of  Julia  Brace.  I 
wish  you,  if  you  can  find  time  to  visit  her  often,  to 
furnish  me  with  a  more  particular  description  of  her 
case,  particularly  in  a  medical  point  of  view,  with  re- 
gard to  the  nature  and  progress  of  the  complaint  by 
which  she  lost  her  hearing ;  and  also  the  present  state 
of  her  eyes  and  ears,  and  under  what  particular  malady 
they  labor.  I  want  to  send  such  intelligence  either  to 
Mr.  Stewart  or  Dr.  Gordon.  I  do  hope,  if  the  thing  is 
practicable,  that  either  yourself,  or  some  other  person, 
will  do  what  can  be  done  to  instruct  this  little  unfor- 
tunate, by  attempting  to  teach  her  the  names  of  objects 
by  a  tangible  alphabet.  If  she  likes,  I  am  resolved  to 
have  her  under  my  immediate  care.     This  is  one  of  the 


54:  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

only  two  cases  of  the  kind  known  in  the  world  ;  and 
while  James  Mitchell  has  attracted,  and  continues  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  first  philosophers  in  Europe, 
it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  our  country,  to  its  philosoph- 
ical character,  and  to  its  character  for  benevolence, 
to  suffer  an  unhappy  female,  whose  situation  is,  if  pos- 
sible, more  interesting  than  Mitchell's,  to  grow  up  un- 
heeded and  neglected. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  are  all  in  comfortable 
health,  and  I  long  more  and  more  to  see  your  dear 
family.  May  Almighty  God  bless  you  with  the  best 
of  his  blessings,  those  spiritual  ones  which  are  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Oh,  my  clear  sir,  the  more  I  see  of  the  world, 
the  more  I  become  acquainted  with  my  own  heart,  the 
more  implicitly  do  I  wish  to  rely  on  the  merits  of 
Christ  alone  for  acceptance  with  God,  and  the  more 
firmly  do  I  believe  that  nothing  can  keep  us  in  the 
friendship  of  God  but  the  continual  influences  of  his 
Spirit.  Man  is  most  helpless,  and  sinful,  and  miser- 
able. God  is  the  source  of  all  good  and  happiness. 
This  truth  I  feel  more  sensibly  every  day.  Oh,  impress 
it  on  the  minds  of  your  dear  children ;  for  young  and 
amiable  as  they  are,  they  must  be  renewed  in  the  tem- 
per of  their  minds,  before  they  can  become  the  friends 
of  God.  Perhaps  I  am  indulging  too  much  freedom ; 
but  I  know  you  will  forgive  me  when  you  think  from 
whom  it  proceeds — from  one  whose  affection  to  your- 
self, and  lady,  and  dear  family,  will  never  be  abated  on 
this   side  of  the   grave.     My  best  love  to  you  all. 

Adieu ! 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


REV.   THOS.   U.   GALLAUDET.  *     55 

From  Miss  Hannah  More. 

"  Barley  Wood,  near  Bristol,  August  30th,  1815. 

"Kev.  Sir, — Your  very  obliging  and  interesting 
letter  would  not  have  remained  so  long  unacknowl- 
edged, but  that  the  pacquet  which  inclosed  it  did  not 
reach  my  hands  till  lately.  Of  my  high  opinion  of 
Miss  Huntley's  talents  and  piety  I  shall  say  the  less  to 
you,  as  I  shall  thank  her  separately  for  her  kind  pres- 
ent, and  shall  also  write  a  line  to  Mr.  Wadsworth,  both 
of  which  I  trust,  sir,  you  will  have  the  goodness  to 
convey  to  their  respective  addresses.  I  shall  also  beg 
the  favor  of  your  calling  on  my  bookseller,  Mr.  Hatch- 
ard,  190  Picadilly,  and  deliver  him  the  inclosed  note. 
You  will  be  so  kind  as  to  charge  yourself  with  one  of 
the  copies  of  my  ■  Essay  on  Saint  Paul '  to  Miss  Hunt- 
ley, as  a  present  from  the  author ;  the  other  copy  you 
will  please  to  accept  yourself,  as  a  slight  testimony  of 
my  respect  for  your  character,  and  for  the  truly  benev- 
olent motive  which  brings  you  to  England.  I  hope  it 
will  please  God  to  bless  your  pious  labors,  and  to  make 
you  an  important  instrument  of  good  in  this  way  to 
your  fellow-creatures,  as  I  find  by  your  friend  you 
are  providentially  hindered  by  bad  health  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  your  more  immediate  professional  duties.  I 
pray  God  to  give  a  blessing  to  your  very  meritorious 
undertaking ! 

"It  just  occurs  to  me,  that  it  may  be  useful  to  you  to 
have  an  introduction  to  Mr.  Macaulay ;  he  is  Editor  of 
the  Christian  Observer,  and  is  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble, pious,  and  best  informed  men  in  this  country,  and 
I  think  takes  an  interest  in  the  deaf  and  dumb. 

"Should  business  bring  you  to  Bristol,  I  shall  be 


56  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

very  glad  to  see  you.     My  house  is  about  eleven  miles 
from  thence. 

"I  am,  sir,  with  respect,  y'r  very  obliged, 

"HAN.  MOKE." 


From  Daniel  Wadsworth,  Esq. 

"  Hartford,  Oct.  20th,  1815. 

"My  Dear  Sir, — The  day  before  yesterday  your 
letter  came  to  hand,  and  under  any  circumstances  I 
should  have  been  much  gratified  by  such  a  mark  of 
your  remembrance,  but  feel  particularly  so  at  this  time, 
when  I  perceive  that  you  have  made  an  exertion 
amidst  cares,  disappointments,  and  ill  health,  to  oblige 
and  entertain  a  distant  friend,  who  had  no  claim  to  any 
sacrifice  of  time  or  health.  I  will  enter  into  no  par- 
ticulars on  the  subject  of  your  views,  farther  than  to 
express  my  regret  at  your  disappointments  and  vexa- 
tions ;  leaving  all  details  to  those  gentlemen  who  have 
corresponded  with  you  on  the  business,  and  who  take 
the  direction  of  it  here.  I  lament  your  ill  health,  and 
consequent  low  spirits  ;  I  hope  brighter  prospects  will 
soon  dawn  upon  you,  and  that  they  will  bring  with 
them  all  those  good  physical  effects  which  usually  ac- 
company a  mind  at  ease. 

"I  am  not  surprised  at  the  painful  impressions  you 
receive  from  witnessing  the  poverty  and  vice  which 
are  to  be  met  with  in  Great  Britain,  and,  indeed,  in  all 
European  countries.  To  Americans  of  every  charac- 
ter, and  most  assuredly  to  you,  these  scenes  must  occa- 
sion no  small  shock — and  perhaps  it  is  not  lessened  by 
perceiving  with  how  much  indifference  our  transatlantic 
acquaintance  behold  such  monuments  of  sorrow  and 


REV.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  57 

infamy.  Our  own  country  presents  so  different  a  pic- 
ture of  moral  virtue  and  domestic  comfort  among  the 
lower  classes,  that  I  think  we  have  no  reason  to  be 
unhappy  in  noticing  the  pride  of  the  English  in  their 
imagined  consequence,  or  in  that  real  superiority  in 
arts,  letters,  and  political  prowess  which  we  are  willing 
to  allow.  Whatever  is  great,  venerable,  or  splendid, 
may  doubtless  be  found  in  England.  But  there  is  a  re- 
verse to  the  picture,  of  which  those  who  have  lived  only 
in  our  vigorous  country,  where  everything  is  either  in 
its  bud  or  its  prime,  cannot  conceive.  This  reverse 
exhibits  such  extremes  of  vice,  folly,  and  suffering  as 
are  only  to  be  found  under  old  established  govern- 
ments, in  countries  loaded  with  a  great  population, 
and  side  by  side  with  splendor,  power,  and  wisdom. 
Your  reflections  are  very  natural  on  the  useless  extent 
of  St.  Paul's,  and  the  possible  good  which  the  vast  sum 
expended  in  building  it  might  have  done  if  appropri- 
ated to  the  relief  of  the  thirty  thousand  beggars  that 
throng  the  streets  of  London.  But,  perhaps,  to  pre- 
vent our  judging  too  severely  on  this  subject,  we  should 
call  to  mind  the  numberless  families  who  were  incited 
to  industry,  and  supported  for  years  in  comfort,  while 
this  building  was  erecting.  We  may  recollect,  too, 
that  while  the  English  have  been  almost  boundless  in 
their  munificence,  in  founding  and  supporting  charita- 
ble institutions,  poverty  has  so  increased  as  to  render 
it  extremely  doubtful  whether  most  good  or  evil  has 
been  the  consequence  of  those  admirable  exertions, 
and  rendered  it  certain  that  almost  every  plan  of  be- 
nevolence, intended  as  a  mere  relief  to  poverty,  which 
has  not  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  industry  for 
its  basis,  is  worse  than  none.  Possibly  you  might  not 
3* 


58  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

think  so  unfavorably  even  of  the  extent  of  St.  Paul's, 
if,  in  better  health  and  spirits,  you  should  attend  the 
annual  celebration  of  the  London  charity  schools,  and 
see  six  thousand  children  arranged  on  rising  seats 
under  that  fine  dome,  uniting  their  voices  in  praising 
their  Great  Benefactor,  who  has  saved  them  from  vice 
and  suffering,  and  placed  before  them  the  way  and 
means  of  salvation — surrounded  by  tens  of  thousands 
of  spectators  and  worshipers — while  tears  of  devotion 
are  seen  to  flow  from  the  eyes  of  many,  and  of  sympa- 
thy from  all. 

"  Our  religious  privileges  here  are  indeed  great,  and 
no  day  passes  over  my  head  without  bringing  with  it 
much,  regret  that,  on  my  part,  they  are  so  poorly  im- 
proved, and  many  fears  for  the  consequences  of  such 
cold  and  blind  neglect.  I  am  gratified  at  the  wishes 
you  express,  to  be  once  more  within  the  sphere  of  the 
same,  and  surrounded  by  your  old  friends ;  and  I  am 
very  sure  that  you  would  both  receive  and  communi- 
cate advantages,  such  as  we  who  are  left  behind,  cold 
and  thoughtless  as  we  are,  are  perversely  incapable  of. 

"Permit  me  particularly  to  thank  you  for  }*)ur  kind 
and  Christian  wishes.  May  the  spirit  of  God  be  with 
him  who  expresses  and  him  who  is  a  subject  of  them, 
and  his  grace  render  them  a  source  of  good  to  both. 

"  That  you  may  be  blessed  with  health,  and  above 
all,  with  that  peace  which  is  the  fruit  of  Christian  faith 
and  Christian  hope,  is  the  prayer  of  your 
"Affectionate  friend, 

"  DANIEL  WADSWORTH." 


REV.   TIIOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  59 

Mr.  Gallaudet  to  Mr.  Woodbridge. 

"  London,  March  4th,  1816. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — To-morrow  morning,  with  the 
leave  of  Providence,  I  expect  to  commence  my  jour- 
ney to  Paris.  I  am  quite  overcharged  with  letters  of 
introduction.  Our  minister,  Mr.  Adams,  has  given 
me  two  or  three  valuable  ones.  I  have  also  one  to 
the  Abbe  Sicard,  from  a  friend  of  his.  I  do  most 
earnestly  hope  that  this,  my  intended  visit  to  France, 
may  qualify  me  better  than  I  could  have  been  qualified 
in  any  other  way  for  usefulness  on  my  return,  and 
particularly  among  the  deaf  and  dumb.  I  have  no 
doubt  God  has  had  wise  reasons  for  throwing  some 
obstacles,  hitherto,  in  my  way.  I  am  sure,  and  I  can 
say  it  with  some  humble  confidence,  that  I  feel  more 
sensibly  than  I  ever  did  before  my  entire  dependence 
on  him.  Oh,  that  we  could  surrender  ourselves  more 
entirely  to  his  service  !  I  often  think  of  Deacon  Beck- 
with's  advice,  that  '  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  work  by 
the  day  ! '  Sometimes  my  poor  weak  head  is  almost 
turned  with  the  various  things  that  I  must  bear  in 
mind  and  do,  in  the  course  of  my  movements  from 
place  to  place ;  but  I  never  feel  happier  than  when  I 
make  out  a  sort  of  plan  in  the  morning  of  what  I  am 
sensible  must  be  done  during  the  day.  I  implore  the 
guidance  and  blessing  of  God,  and  commence  the 
business  of  the  day  without  taking  much  thought  for 
the  morrow.  I  am  sure  Christians  fail  in  not  trusting 
God  enough.  According  to  my  little  experience,  I 
feel  satisfied  that  he  is  very  faithful  to  support  and 
direct  us,  when  we  cast  all  our  care  upon  him  and 
labor  in  his  service.     I  know  not  what  is  before  me 


60  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

in  France ;  but  I  know  one  thing,  that  if  God  vouch- 
safe his  presence,  it  matters  nothing  with  what  scenes 
I  am  surrounded.  If  it  be  his  will,  I  do  long  soon  to  be 
prepared  to  return  to  home.  This  '  seeing  the  world ' 
is  a  very  pretty  thing  in  prospect,  but  the  world  soon 
sickens  to  the  taste.  For  what  do  you  see  in  it  ?  A 
complicated  mass  of  wretchedness  and  sin.  I  confess 
it  is  delightful  to  witness  what  is  doing  to  relieve  this 
misery,  and  to  see  what  is  done  in  this  country. 

"T.  H.  G." 


Extract  from  a  Letter  to  Mr.  Woodbridge. 

"  Paris,  March  14th,  1816. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  dare  say  you  are  often  thinking 
what  a  delightful  excursion  I  must  be  making,  and 
what  a  rich  feast  of  novelty  I  must  have  continually 
spread  before  me.  It  is  far  otherwise.  I  am  not  dis- 
gusted with  life.  While  God  chooses  to  continue  me 
in  the  world  I  know  it  is  best  for  me ;  nor  do  I  think 
that  life  is  without  its  enjoyments ;  but  I  begin  to  real- 
ize that  these  enjoyments  cannot  be  found,  even  in  the 
gratification  alone  of  what  is  called  taste,  in  reading 
the  finest  authors  ;  in  mingling  with  the  most  learned 
and  elegant ;  in  viewing  the  choicest  scenery  of  nature, 
or  the  most  admirable  productions  of  the  pencil ;  in 
seeing  new  countries,  and  customs,  and  habits ;  '  for 
this  also  is  vanity.' 

"  What  are  hours  spent  in  these  pursuits,  compared 
with  the  enjoyments  of  the  humblest  cottager  that  has 
the  light  of  God's  countenance  upon  his  soul,  and  who 
improves,  for  the  glory  of  the  Savior  and  the  good 
of  those  around  him;  the  one  talent  which  may  have 


REV.   TIIOS.    IT.   GALLAUDET.  Gl 

been  committed  to  his  charge.  I  do  assure  you  it  has 
perplexed  me  not  a  little,  since  I  have  been  abroad,  to 
determine  how  much  time  I  could  conscientiously  de- 
vote to  the  observation  of  what  is  considered  rare  and 
curious.  Public  amusements  I  have  abstained  from 
entirely ;  and  the  temptation  to  forget  divine  things  is  so 
great,  when  one  once  begins,  even  for  a  day  or  two,  to 
make  a  business  of  seeing  what  is  to  be  seen,  that  I 
declare  to  you,  with  my  present  feelings,  were  it  not 
that  I  thought  that  my  usefulness  might  be  diminished 
by  my  returning  home  ignorant  of  what  all  travelers 
speak  of,  I  would  not  put  myself  out  of  the  way  to  see 
one  of  the  wonders  of  this  wonderful  city.  It  is  hard, 
I  know,  to  hit  the  middle  course,  but  it  is  always  safest 
to  keep  as  far  as  possible  from  the  world  and  its  influ- 
ence. The  precepts  of  our  Savior  were  very  explicit 
on  this  subject,  and  I  do  fear  that  the  little  external 
distinction  that  exists  at  the  present  day,  between 
Christians  and  others,  is  a  great  injury  to  the  cause  of 
the  Kedeemer.  A  fine  edition  stereotype  of  the  New 
Testament  is  now  printing  here  for  the  Protestants,  and 
another  for  the  Catholics.  Oh !  how  this  poor  heathen 
people  want  the  Bible  and  the  Sabbath !  "Will  my  own 
country  ever  lose  them  through  its  corruption  and 
vice  ?  My  heart  bleeds  at  the  possibility  of  this.  My 
dear  sir,  you  read  of  the  depravity  of  morals  here. 
You  talk  of  it  and  of  your  own  privileges  in  Connecti- 
cut ;  but  you  don't  realize  these  things ;  you  cannot, 
without  being  an  eye  witness  of  them.  I  often  think 
of  your  fireside,  while  musing  solitary  by  my  own. 
When  shall  I  be  with  you  and  with  your  dear  family, 
and  with  my  deaf  and  dumb  children  ?  I  pray  God  to 
give  me  strength  to  adhere  to  the  prosecution  of  my 


02  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

object,  whatever  difficulties  maybe  in  the  way;  and 
pray  him  to  shed  down  upon  you  and  yours  his  kind- 
est protection  and  his  richest  blessings. 

"T.  H.  G." 


To  Alice  Cogswell. 

"  Paris,  March  24th,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Alice, — When  I  was  in  Edinburgh,  I 
wrote  some  letters  to  you,  and  I  sent  you  a  letter  from 
Ellen  Hall.  She  is  a  scholar  at  the  school  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb.  I  hope  you  will  get  her  letter.  You 
must  remember  to  answer  it.  You  said,  in  the  letter 
which  you  wrote  to  me,  that  you  want  to  see  me  back 
in  one  year.  I  want  very  much  to  go  back  to  Hart- 
ford, and  begin  to  instruct  you  and  the  other  deaf  and 
dumb  children,  but  I  shall  stay  here  some  time,  I  do 
not  know  how  long.  I  must  learn  all  that  the  Abbe 
Sicard  can  teach  me,  and  then  I  shall  be  able  to  teach 
you  in  the  best  way.  Do  you  now  learn  any  verses  in 
the  Bible,  and  any  hymns  or  psalms  ?  Do  you  often 
think  about  £k>d  ?  Do  you  pray  to  him  to  make  you 
good,  and  to  make  you  ready  to  go  to  heaven  when 
3^ou  die  ?  Do  not  forget  to  do  this  every  morning  and 
evening. 

"  From  your  true  friend, 

«  T.  H.  G." 

"  Postscript. — All  the  streets  in  Paris  are  paved  with 
round  stone,  and  when  it  rains,  the  streets  are  very 
muddy,  and  there  are  no  sidewalks.  Everybody  must 
take  great  care  that  the  chaises  and  coaches  do  not 
run  over  them.  I  would  rather  live  in  Hartford  than 
Paris.     You  would  be  very  sorry  to  see  the  Sabbath 


REV.   TIIOS.   II    GALLAUDET.  63 

kept  so  badly  in  Paris.  Most  of  the  shops  are  open, 
and  people  buy  and  sell  goods,  and  the  theatres  are 
open,  and  but  few  people  go  to  church,  particularly 
in  the  afternoon.  How  sorry  we  ought  to  be  for  such 
a  people,  and  to  thank  God  that  it  is  not  so  in  Con- 
necticut. 

"  T.  H.  G." 


Extract  from  a  Letter  to  Dr.  Cogswell. 

"  Paris,  April  11th,  1816. 

u  My  Dear  Sir, — The  '  Comet '  has  delayed  sailing, 
and  I  embrace  the  last  opportunity  I  have  of  writing 
you  by  her.  My  first  wish  is,  that  yourself  and  family 
particularly,  and  dear  Alice  above  all,  should  be  truly 
grateful  to  God  for  the  great  kindness  with  which  he 
is  enabling  me  to  prosecute  my  undertaking.  Do  ex- 
plain this  thought  to  Alice,  and  let  her  understand  that 
I  feel  that  God  alone  has  conducted  me  in  all  my  steps ; 
that  he  has  led  me  by  the  hand  as  you  sometimes  lead 
her.  I  fear  continually,  lest  I  should  lose  this  sense 
of  gratitude  myself.  But  I  do  hope  that  God  will  con- 
descend to  keep  me  sensible  of  my  absolute  and  con- 
stant dependence  on  him.  If  I  am  permitted  to  conduct 
my  difficult  enterprise  to  that  result  to  which  we  look 
forward  with  some  sanguine  expectation,  to  Him,  and  to 
his  son  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  Lord  of  this  lower  world, 
be  all  the  glory. 

11  How  long  must  I  stay  here  ?  I  cannot  tell  you.  I 
shall  stay  till  I  make  thorough  work,  if  my  life  and 
health  are  spared,  and  God  continues  to  bless  my 
labors.  I  fear  it  will  be  next  spring  before  you  see 
me ;  but,  if  I  can  return  sooner — I  hardly  dare  think 


64  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF 

of  it,  the  thought  is  so  delightful  to  me ;  for,  be  assured, 
no  one  wants  me  back  more  than  I  want  to  be  with 
you.  From  religious  privileges  and  social  enjoyment 
I  am  almost  entirely  cut  off ;  and  what  is  the  gayety 
of  Paris  to  me  ?  As  a  philosopher,  and  I  hope  as  a 
Christian,  I  despise  it.  No !  the  flow  of  the  Connecti- 
cut river,  and  the  fields  on  its  banks,  and  the  good  old 
manners  of  those  who  dwell  on  its  borders,  and  a  ser- 
mon or  two  from  Dr.  Strong,  and  some  social  ease 
among  my  friends,  and  a  seat  at  your  fireside,  outweigh 
all  the  pomp,  and  splendor,  and  gayety,  and  novelty, 
and  science  of  this  proudest  of  European  cities.  I  do 
thank  God  that  a  sight  of  the  world  has  taught  me 
more  of  its  vanity,  and  that  you — you — who  are  quiet 
at  home,  are  of  all  men  those  to  be  most  envied. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  T.  H.  G." 


From  William  J.  Inns. 

"  Edinburgh,  May  29th,  1816. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  duly  received  your  two  kind 
letters.  Allow  me  to  express  the  pleasure  I  feel  in 
learning  that  in  Paris  you  are  likely  to  obtain  the 
benevolent  object  of  your  visit  to  Europe.  What  you 
say  of  the  attainments  of  Abbe  Sicard's  pupils,  is  one 
of  the  best  proofs  of  the  excellence  of  his  system.  I 
regret  you  have  not  been  here  these  two  weeks  past. 
We  have  had  the  annual  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  some  very 
able  debates  in  it.  The  principal  one  took  place  last 
Wednesday,  when  the  subject  of  discussion  was 
whether,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 


REV.   TIIOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  65 

it  was  lawful  to  connect  a  living  with,  a  chair  in  one 
of  the  universities.  Dr.  Chalmers  spoke  with  the 
most  powerful  eloquence  against  pluralities,  maintain- 
ing that  every  clergyman  had  quite  enough  to  do,  if 
he  faithfully  discharged  his  duty  in  attending  to  the 
spiritual  interests  of  his  people. 

"  Mr.  Jeffrey,  the  editor  of  the  Edinburgh  Eeview, 
heard  him,  and  was  so  struck  with  his  eloquence,  as  to 
express  a  wish  to  be  introduced  to  him.  He  was  so, 
and  on  Monday  night  they  supped  together.  This  I 
consider  an  interesting  anecdote,  or  perhaps  you  may 
call  it  literary  ecclesiastical.  May  we  not  hope,  that  if 
no  other  good  effect  flows  from  it,  the  editor  of  so 
popular  a  work  will  at  least  be  more  cautious  in 
throwing  out  insinuations  against  Christianity,  when 
he  is  so  struck  with  the  superior  talents  of  one  at  least 
of  its  decided  advocates. 

"  Dr.  Chalmers  preached  before  the  Lord  High  Com- 
missioner last  Sabbath.  The  crowd  was  immense. 
All  the  judges  and  magistrates  were  present.  The 
discourse,  I  understand,  was  peculiarly  powerful  and 
highly  gratifying  to  all  who  heard  it. 
"  I  am,  as  ever,  my  dear  sir, 

"  Yours  with  very  sincere  esteem, 

"  WILLIAM  J.  INNS." 


From  Professor  Silliman. 

"  New  Haven,  June  1st,  1816. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  was  much,  gratified  by  your 

favor  of  January  20th,  which,  however,  did  not  reach, 

me  till  the  first  week  in  May.     I  had  taken  no  small 

interest  in  your  enterprise,  and  had  been  regularly  ac- 


66  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

quainted  with  your  progress,  or  rather  with  jour  dis- 
appointments, and  was  sorry  to  learn  that,  in  a  concern 
of  genuine  philanthropy,  the  scene  of  which  was  to  be 
in  a  distant  country,  the  sordid  considerations  of  gain 
should  interfere.  In  Paris,  however,  (where,  I  am  re- 
cently informed,  you  have  arrived,)  1  have  no  doubt, 
that  through  the  influence  of  the  Abbe  Sicard,  you 
will  meet  with  every  aid  which  the  nature  of  the  case 
admits. 

"I  am  much  obliged  to  my  Edinburgh  friends  for 
their  kind  remembrance  of  me,  and  am  gratified  that 
you  came  in  contact  with  so  many  whom  I  had  known. 
The  iron  reign  of  the  Corsican,  prevented  me  from 
becoming  personally  acquainted  with  the  men  and 
things  which  now  surround  you ;  and  I  am  pleased 
that  you  enjoy  opportunities  which  were  denied 
to  me. 

"  Mr.  Wadsworth  and  Dr.  D wight  have  received 
your  respective  communications,  and  been  gratified  by 
them. 

u  I  am  sensible  that  the  demands  upon  you  for  let- 
ters, during  your  stay  abroad,  are  numerous;  but, 
should  your  time  and  health  permit,  I  should  be  much 
gratified  by  hearing  from  you  while  in  Paris.  If  you 
get  time  to  step  into  the  lecture  rooms,  cabinets,  and 
laboratories  of  the  physical  sciences,  I  should  be  grati- 
fied to  learn  from  you  the  present  state  of  those  sub- 
jects in  France. 

"  Wishing  you,  my  dear  sir,  complete  success  in  your 
very  important  undertaking,  and  every  blessing  of  time 
and  eternity,  I  remain,  very  cordially, 

"  Your  friend  and  servant, 

"  Mr.  T.  H.  Gallaudet."  «  B.  SILLIMAN. 


I 


EEV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  67 

From  Daniel  Wadsivorth,  Esq. 

"  Hartford,  July  31st,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  two  letters  to  thank  you 
for,  written  in  February  and  April,  one  of  which 
reached  me  in  May,  and  one  in  June.  They  are  both 
before  me  at  this  moment,  and  demand  my  sincere  ac- 
knowledgements. I  am  glad  to  learn  from  these  letters 
that  mine  have  reached  you,  and  also  to  say  in  answer 
to  your  inquiries  that  the  volumes  from  Miss  More  to 
Miss  Huntley  have  arrived  in  safety,  and  were  most 
gratefully  received.  I  have  been  much  gratified  to 
perceive  that  Miss  More  appears  to  have  none  of  that 
extreme  caution  which  usually  characterizes  the  Eng- 
lish in  their  intercourse  with  strangers.  Her  answer  to 
my  letter  explaining  who  Miss  Huntley  was,  and  what 
her  education  had  been,  was  in  a  style  of  unquestion- 
ing belief  and  candor,  as  was  that  to  Miss  Huntley ;  and 
her  kind  introduction  of  you  to  Mr.  Macaulay,  seems 
to  complete  the  character  of  this  whole  transaction  as 
one  of  true  Christian  confidence  and  charity.  Your 
acquaintance  with  that  gentleman  when  you  return  to 
England  will  most  assuredly  be  a  source  of  great  pleas- 
ure, and  I  hope  and  believe,  you  will  find  time  to 
visit  Miss  More.  If  England  abounds  with  such  men 
and  such  women,  I  think  evangelical  sentiments  must 
gain  ground,  at  least  where  fashion  and  dissipation  do 
not  occupy  the  whole  time  of  the  well  educated.  Since 
they  are  beginning  at  Cambridge,  they  cannot  fail  to 
spread  in  every  direction.  I  was  much  pleased  with 
your  account  of  your  visit  to  that  seat  of  learning,  and 
with  your  journey  to  and  residence  in  Edinburgh.  It 
is  indeed  somewhat  awkward  to  be  acquainted  with 


t)5  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

many  whom  you  meet  every  day,  but  whose  names 
you  do  not  know.  This  is  what  I  never  before  heard 
of  in  Scotch  society ;  but  every  day  I  feel  a  stronger 
inclination  to  visit  that  country  myself.  Even  the  an- 
tiquities of  Italy,  the  splendor  of  Paris,  and  the  arts 
and  wealth  of  England,  do  not  in  me  excite  half  the 
curiosity  and  interest  as  the  wild  scenes,  honest  hearts, 
and  rough  but  cultivated  minds,  manners,  and  virtues 
to  be  found  in  Scotland.  I  wish,  with  all  my  heart, 
there  were  in  our  own  country  more  people  of  the 
character  you  describe  in  England  and  Scotland,  who 
hold  so  preeminent  a  rank  in  piety  and  virtue ;  and 
that,  both  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals,  we  could  drop 
the  absurd  foppery  of  pretending  to  know  all,  and  he 
all,  that  we  neither  understand  or  are.  We  might  then, 
at  least,  have  credit  for  what  we  are  worth,  while,  by 
aiming  at  so  much  more,  we  are  not  allowed  what  is 
our  just  due.  Your  Cambridge  acquaintance  certainly 
may  be  considered  as  having  shown  a  very  extraor- 
dinary mark  of  civility,  and  at  the  same  time  did  you 
a  very  great  favor  in  giving  you  an  original  letter  of 
Doctor  Johnson's.  I  had  rather  be  the  possessor  of 
such  a  letter,  than  of  the  head  of  the  Apollo  Belvi- 
dere. 

"  Considering  the  agreeable  circumstances  under 
which  you  now  are,  I  almost  rejoice  at  your  early  dis- 
appointments. It  appears  to  me  that  I  can  distinctly 
see  the  hand  of  a  Divine  superintendent  directing  every 
event  for  the  best ;  and  in  this  instance  we  have  been 
permitted  to  perceive  how  all  at  which  we  were  ready 
to  repine,  has  been  overruled  by  the  production  of 
nothing  but  good.  All  that  relates  to  the  object  of 
your  mission,  you  will  probably  hear  from  Dr.  Cogs- 


REV.    TIIOS.    FT.    GALLAUDET.  69 

well  and  those   gentlemen  who   have  usually  corre- 
sponded with  you  on  that  subject. 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  sir.  May  you  be  prospered  in  all 
you  undertake  ;  and  may  your  preaching  in  the  city  of 
Paris  have  an  effect  in  proportion  to  the  rarity  with 
which  truth  is  ever  heard  in  that  dissipated  place.  That 
God  may  ever  bless  you  is  the  prayer  of  Mrs.  "Wads- 
worth  and  myself. 

"  Yery  affectionately  your  friend, 

"  DAXIEL  TVADSWOKTH." 


70  TIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 


CHAPTER    III. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  remained  in  Edinburgh  till  the 
12th  of  February,  1816,  when  he  left  for  London, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  17th,  and  stayed  till  the  5th  of 
March ;  then  crossed  the  Channel,  and  reached  Paris 
on  the  9th.  On  the  13th,  he  wrote  in  his  journal, 
"  To-morrow,  Mr.  Warder  promises  to  accompany  me 
to  the  Abbe  Sicard,  for  whom  I  have  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction from  Z.  Macaulay,  Esq.,  of  London.  To  Al- 
mighty God,  I  do  desire,  most  fervently,  to  commit 
my  undertaking  at  this  juncture.  May  his  blessing 
attend  it,  for  Christ's  sake."  The  next  day  he  writes, 
"  This  morning,  I  called  on  the  Abbe,  and  he  promises 
to  give  me  every  facility." 

]STo  sooner  said  than  done.  Mr.  Gallaudet  entered 
immediately  upon  the  regular  course  as  a  pupil,  ad- 
vancing rapidly  from  class  to  class — from  the  lowest 
up  to  the  highest,  besides  availing  himself,  daily,  of 
private  instruction;  and  what  progress  he  made,  ap- 
pears from  the  fact,  that  in  less  than  three  months,  he 
had  so  far  mastered  the  system,  as  to  be  prepared  to 
come  home,  and  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  con- 
templated asylum  for  deaf  mutes  in  his  own  country. 
Three  months,  instead  of  three  years,  which  was  the 
shortest  time  in  which  the  heads  of  the  English  and 
Scottish  schools  would  undertake  to  fit  him  for  the  re- 


REV.    TI10S.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  71 

sponsible  task !  When  and  where  did  any  other  man 
ever  qualify  himself  so  well  for  teaching  the  language 
of  pantomime,  in  so  short  a  time  ?  And  what  makes 
it  more  remarkable  is,  that  he  regularly  supplied  the 
English  pulpit  in  the  chapel  of  the  Oratoire,  and 
preached  that  highly  finished  course  of  sermons,  which 
were  first  published  in  London,  and  highly  com- 
mended by  some  of  the  most  competent  judges  abroad, 
as  fine  specimens  of  what  sermons  ought  to  be,  in 
style,  and  in  the  clear  and  faithful  presentation  of 
evangelical  truth. 

Mr.  Grallaudet  was  now  ready  and  anxious  to  re- 
turn ;  but  as  the  branch  of  instruction  for  which  he 
had  been  preparing  himself,  would  be  entirely  new  in 
this  country,  and  more  than  one  teacher  would  be 
wanted  for  a  successful  beginning,  it  became  a  serious 
question  with  him,  where  to  find  a  well  qualified 
assistant.  It  must  be  in  Paris  or  Great  Britain,  if 
anywhere;  and  a  kind  Providence  had  been  raising 
up  the  very  teacher  in  the  asylum  which  had  so  gene- 
rously received  him,  and  lavished  upon  him  all  its 
advantages. 

He  had  no  hesitation  on  whom  to  fix  his  choice. 
Laurent  Clerc,  one  of  the  two  principal  assistants  of 
the  Abbe  Sicard,  was  the  very  man.  But  would  the 
Abbe  consent  to  spare  him,  and  would  he  be  per- 
suaded to  go  ?  It  was  scarcely  to  be  expected ;  but 
let  Mr.  Clerc  tell  us,  in  his  own  way,  how  He  who 
has  all  hearts  in  his  hands,  and  "turneth  them 
whithersoever  he  will,"  brought  it  to  pass.  Eeferring 
back  to  their  first  meeting  in  London,  to  which  allu- 
sion has  already  been  made,  he  says — 

"  It  was  at  the  close  of  one  of  our  public  lectures, 


l 


72  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

that  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  introduced  to  me  for  the  first 
time,  by  M.  Sicard.  We  cordially  shook  hands  with 
him,  and  on  being  told  who  he  was,  where  he  came 
from,  and  for  what  purpose,  on  being  further  informed 
of  the  ill  success  of  his  mission  in  England,  we  earn- 
estly invited  him  to  come  to  Paris,  assuring  him  that 
every  facility  would  be  afforded  him  to  see  our  Insti- 
tution, and  attend  our  daily  lessons.  He  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  said  he  would  come  in  the  ensuing 
spring.  "We  did  not  see  him  any  more,  as  we  left 
London  soon  afterwards.  In  the  spring  of  1816,  ac- 
cording to  his  promise,  he  came  to  Paris,  and  glad 
were  we  to  see  him  again.  •  He  visited  our  Institution 
almost  daily.  He  began  by  attending  the  lowest 
class,  and  from  class  to  class  he  came  to  mine,  which 
was  the  highest.  I  had;  therefore,  a  good  opportunity 
of  seeing  and  conversing  with  him  often;  and  the 
more  I  saw  him,  the  more  I  liked  him ;  his  counte- 
nance and  manner  pleased  me  greatly.  He  frequented 
my  school-room;  and  one  day  requested  me  to  give 
him  private  lessons,  of  an  hour,  every  day.  I  could 
receive  him  but  three  times  a  week,  and  he  came 
with  punctuality,  so  great  was  his  desire  of  acquiring 
the  knowledge  of  the  language  of  signs,  in  the  shortest 
time  possible.  I  told  him,  nevertheless,  that  however 
diligent  he  might  be,  it  would  require  at  least  six 
months,  to  get  a  tolerably  good  knowledge  of  signs, 
and  a  year,  for  the  method  of  instruction,  so  as  to  be 
well  qualified  to  teach  thoroughly.  He  said  he  feared 
it  would  not  be  in  his  power  to  stay  so  long,  and  that 
he  would  reflect,  and  give  me  his  final  decision  by 
and  by.  In  the  mean  time,  he  continued  coming  to 
receive  his  lesson;  and  we  spoke  no  more  of  how 


REV.    TITOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  73 

long  he  could  stay,  till  the  middle  of  May,  when 
taking  a  favorable  occasion,  he  intimated  to  me,  that 
he  wished  very  much  he  could  obtain  a  well  edu- 
cated deaf  and  dumb  young  man. 

"I  named  two  who  had  left  our  Institution  a  few 
years  since,  that  I  knew  would  suit  him,  as  they  had 
some  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  whereas  I 
had  none  at  all ;  but  he  answered,  that  he  had  already 
made  his  choice,  and  that  I  was  the  person  he  pre- 
ferred. Greatly  astonished  was  I,  for  I  had  not  the 
least  expectation  that  I  should  be  thought  of.  After 
a  short  pause  I  said  I  would  not  hesitate  to  go,  if  I 
could  do  it  properly.  I  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of 
speaking  or  writing  to  the  Abbe  Sicard  on  the  subject, 
as  I  considered  myself  engaged  to  the  Abbe.  He 
said  he  would  write,  and  accordingly  did  so ;  but, 
although  his  letter  was  never  answered,  we  both  in- 
ferred that  M.  Sicard's  silence  was  rather  favorable 
than  otherwise.  But,  in  order  to  ascertain  his  views, 
I  was  requested  to  sound  him.  Accordingly,  I  called 
and  inquired,  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  whether 
he  had  received  Mr.  G's  letter,  and  if  so,  what  answer 
he  had  returned.  I  received  but  an  evasive  answer 
to  my  question ;  for  he  abruptly  asked  me  why  I 
wished  to  leave  him.  My  reply  was  simply  this, 
that  I  could  leave  him  for  a  few  years  without  loving 
him  the  less  for  it,  and  that  I  had  a  great  desire  to  see 
the  world,  and  especially  to  make  my  unfortunate 
fellow  beings,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  par- 
ticipate in  the  same  benefits  of  education  that  I  had 
myself  received  from  him.  He  seemed  to  appreciate 
my  feelings;  for,  after  some  further  discussions,  he 
finished  by  saying  that  he  would  give  his  consent, 
4 


74  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

provided  I  also  obtained  the  consent  of  my  mother, 
my  father  being  dead.  I  said  I  would  ask  her,  if  he 
would  permit  me  to  go  home.  Accordingly  I  made 
my  preparations,  and  started  for  Lyons  on  the  first  of 
June,  after  having  promised  Mr.  Gallaudet  to  return 
in  a  few  days  before  the  appointed  time  for  our  voyage. 
I  thought  I  was  going  agreeably  to  surprise  my  dear 
mother — for  she  never  imagined,  poor  woman,  that  I 
could  come  to  see  her  except  during  my  vacation, 
which  usually  took  place  in  September — but  I  was 
myself  much  more  surprised  when,  on  my  arrival,  she 
told  me  she  knew  what  I  had  come  for  ;  and  on  my 
inquiring  what  it  was,  she  handed  me  a  letter  she  had 
received  from  M.  Sicard  the  preceding  day.  On  read- 
ing it,  I  found  that  he  had  altered  his  mind,  and 
written  to  dissuade  my  mother  from  giving  her  con- 
sent, saying  he  could  not  spare  me.  Accordingly  my 
mother  urged  me  hard  to  stay  in  France,  but  to  no 
purpose.  She  gave  her  consent  with  much  reluctance, 
and  said  she  would  pray  God  every  day  for  my  safety, 
through  the  intercession  of  La  Sainte  Vierge. 

"  I  bade  herself,  my  brothers  and  sisters  and  friends, 
adieu,  and  was  back  in  Paris  on  the  12th  of  June;  and 
the  next  day  after,  having  taken  an  affectionate  leave 
of  the  good  Abbe  Sicard,  who  had  been  like  a  father 
to  me,  I  went  also  to  bid  my  pupils  good  by.  The 
day  following,  the  14th  of  June,  I  was  en  route  for 
Havre,  with  Mr.  Gallaudet  and  our  much  honored 
friend  S.  Y.  S.  Wilder,  Esq.  On  the  18th  of  June 
Ave  embarked  on  board  the  ship  Mary  Augusta,  Capt. 
Hall,  and  arrived  at  New  York  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1816.  After  a  short  stay  in  New  Haven,  we  took  the 
stage  for  Hartford,  where  we  arrived  in  the  afternoon 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  75 

of  the  2 2d  of  August.  We  alighted  at  Dr.  Cogswell's, 
in  Prospect  street.  We  found  Mrs.  Cogswell  alone  at 
home  with  her  daughters,  excepting  Alice,  who  was 
then  at  school  under  Miss  Lydia  Huntley.  She  was 
immediately  sent  for,  and  when  she  made  her  appear- 
ance, I  beheld  a  very  interesting  little  girl.  She  had 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  countenances  I  ever  saw. 
We  conversed  by  signs,  and  we  understood  each  other 
very  well,  so  true  is  it  that  the  language  of  signs  is 
universal,  and  as  simple  as  nature.  I  had  left  many 
objects  and  persons  in  France  endeared  to  me  by  asso- 
ciation, and  America,  at  first,  seemed  uninteresting 
and  monotonous,  and  I  sometimes  regretted  leaving 
my  native  land ;  but  on  seeing  Alice,  I  had  only  to 
recur  to  the  object  which  had  induced  me  to  seek 
these  shores,  to  contemplate  the  good  we  were  going 
to  do,   and   sadness  was  subdued  by  an  approving 


MISCELLANEOUS   LETTERS   AFTER  MR.  GALLAU- 
DET'S   RETURN. 


Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Glasgow,  Feb.  13, 1816. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  received  your  letter  of  yester- 
day's date,  and  am  greatly  pleased  and  interested  in 
the  information  contained  in  it,  and  am  so  desirous  of 
having  a  sight  of  one  of  the  pamphlets  taken  notice  of 
by  you,  that  1  have  ventured  to  avail  myself  of  your 
very  kind  permission  to  write  for  one  of  them  from 
London.  Yours  with  esteem, 

"THOS.  CHALMERS." 


76  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

Extract  from  a  Letter  of  Zachary  Macaulay,  Editor  of 
the  '  Christian  Observer.'' 

"  London,  April  16, 1816. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  been  favored  with  your  in- 
teresting letter  of  the  2d  of  December.  And,  if  I  durst 
assume  myself  any  of  the  merit  you  attribute  to  the 
Christian  Observer,  I  should  be  tempted  to  an  ela- 
tion not  very  consistent  with  my  pretensions,  and  not 
very  conducive  to  the  growth  of  those  humbling  and 
self-abasing  views  of  both  my  moral  and  intellectual 
acquirements,  which  the  added  experience  of  each  suc- 
ceeding day  convinces  me,  it  is  both  my  wisdom  and 
my  duty  to  cultivate.  If  that  work  has  been  made 
instrumental,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  as  I  trust  it 
has  in  some  measure,  in  recommending  real  Christian- 
ity to  the  regards  of  some  intelligent  individuals,  who 
had  previously  overlooked  its  claims,  the  credit  is  due, 
as  far  as  any  is  due  to  human  instrumentality,  not  to 
him  whose  functions  were  merely  editorial,  but  to  those 
informing  minds  who  supplied  him  with  the  materials 
for  selection. 

Your  work,  though  finished  to-day,  will  not  be  pub- 
lished till  to-morrow.  I  have  a  confident  expectation 
that  these  sermons  will  do  much  good,  both  in  this 
country  and  in  America.  As  a  specimen  of  American 
theology  and  American  taste,  I  think  it  will  be  found 
to  rank  high ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  subserve 
more  important  purposes  than  merely  marking  the 
progress  of  literary  improvement ;  and  that,  with  the 
blessing  of  God,  it  may  be  the  means  of  producing  sal- 
utary convictions  in  the  minds  of  many,  and  promot- 
ing the  edification  of  many  more. 


REV.    THOS.    n.    GALLAUDET.  77 

';I  rejoice  in  the  continued  success  of  your  Institu- 
tion. Your  paper  on  'Emulation,'  is  likely  to  appear 
in  the  Christian  Observer.  I  pray  }'OU  continue  your 
very  interesting  details  of  the  progress  of  }'our  Insti- 
tution and  kindred  institutions  around  you.  I  remain, 
dear  Sir,  with  real  regard  and  esteem, 

11  Yours  very  faithfully, 

"  Z.  MACAULAY." 


From  Dr.  Chalmers. 

"  Glasgow,  Dec.  14th,  1816. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  received  your  obliging  commu- 
nication of  August  13th.  I  am  greatly  delighted  with 
your  information  relative  to  the  progress  and  the  re- 
vival of  Christianity  in  your  land.  I  think  that  upon 
taking  a  comparative  view  of  the  state  of  religion  here 
at  present,  with  what  it  was  ten  years  ago,  that  there 
is  a  decided  improvement ;  that  evangelical  Christianity 
is  rising  into  a  greater  estimation  with  literary  men. 
\Vhat  is  of  more  consequence  still,  that  it  is  more  justly 
appreciated  by  the  dispensers  of  patronage,  and  that 
there  is  now  a  reflnx  from  that  cold,  heathenish,  clas- 
sical style  of  pulpit  dissertation  which  was  so  preva- 
lent in  this  country  during  the  last  generation,  to  the 
warm,  and  the  peculiar,  and  the  pious  Christianity  of 
the  New  Testament. 

"  Let  it  be  understood,  however,  that  every  observa- 
tion as  to  the  progress  of  vital  religion,  is  greatly  more 
applicable  to  England  than  to  this  part  of  our  empire ; 
and  it  delights  me  to  understand  that,  within  the  bosom 
of  that  great  hierarchy,  there  is  forming  a  body  of  earn- 
est, and  useful,  and  evangelical  preachers,  who,  how- 


78  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

ever  derided  for  their  fanaticism  by  the  scoffers  of  the 
day,  will,  I  trust,  be  the  instruments  of  extensive  good 
to  the  English  population. 

"  It  is  my  prayer  that  you  may  go  on  and  prosper ; 
that  the  sacred  cause  of  the  Gospel,  with  all  its  blessed 
effects  on  the  prosperity  of  families  and  the  peace  of 
nations,  may  make  progress  every  year  in  the  world, 
and  that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  the  whole 
human  race  shall  be  formed  into  one  brotherhood  of 
faith  and*  charity. 

"  I  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  you. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

"  THOS.  CHALMERS." 


The  same  to  the  same. 

"  Glasgow,  March  2nd,  1817. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  beg  leave  to  transmit  for  your 
acceptance  a  volume  of  sermons,  published  by  me 
within  these  few  days. 

"I  received  all  the  pamphlets  about  the  Peace 
Society,  and  also  your  volume  of  sermons.  I  am 
compelled  to  say  that  I  have,  as  yet,  been  able  to  look 
very  little  into  either  of  them.  I  am  glad  to  under- 
stand that  your  volume  has  been  very  favorably 
noticed  in  the  Observer.  But  really,  for  myself,  I 
am  so  excessively  engrossed,  and  I  am  so  miserably 
in  arrears,  both  with  unread  books,  and  unanswered 
letters,  that  I  must  for  some  time  store  it  unread. 
I  have  been  sadly  pressed  to  take  an  active  part  in 
the  business  of  a  Peace  Society  established  here- 
This  I  cannot  do,  and  all  that  I  can  possibly  afford 
in  behalf  of  this  object,  is  my  testimony  in  its  favor. 


KEY.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  79 

"I  had,  not  many  weeks  ago,  an  application  from 
Mr.  Farquhar  Gordon,  of  Edinburgh,  for  }~our  sermon 
and  report  on  the  subject  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
He  had  not  seen  them  at  that  time.  And  I  have, 
since  I  sent  them,  had  another  letter  in  which  he 
fully  exculpates  you.  I  have  heard  that  he  was 
the  author  of  the  article  against  you  in  the  Instructor, 
though  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  at  all  in  harmony 
with  the  temper  and  principles  of  the  man. 

"I  cordially  acquiesce  in  all  you  say  about  the 
dangers  of  conformity.  I  at  one  time  thought,  that 
much  would  be  done  to  conciliate  the  support  of 
worldly  men  to  the  good  cause,  could  its  accommoda- 
tion to  the  interests  of  civil  society  be  cunningly 
held  out  to  them.  I  am  now  far  less  sanguine  of 
any  good  from  their  cooperation,  and  am  veering 
towards  the  opinion,  that  the  more  broadly  our  aspect 
of  peculiarity  and  separation  is  flashed  upon  the 
public  e}^e,  so  much  the  better.  Let  us  not  partition 
this  matter,  or  give  countenance  to  the  doctrine  that 
there  is  any  compatibility  between  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  and  the  spirit  of  natural  and  unconverted  men. 
At  the  same  time  I  rejoice  in  the  belief,  that  Christ- 
ianity is  making  progress  ;  that  evangelical  statements 
are  more  tolerated  by  the  public  at  large,  and  are 
entering  with  demonstration  and  power  into  a  great 
number  of  individual  hearts  ;  that  the  national  impulse 
at  present,  is  on  the  side  of  religious  education ;  and, 
that  amid  the  conflict  and  operation  of  all  the  elements 
of  darkness,  there  is  the  element  of  grace,  working 
and  growing,  and  making  such  progress,  as  will  at 
length  subordinate,  and  like  the  rod  of  Aaron,  swallow 
up  all  the  others. 


80  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"It  is  my  earnest  prayer,  in  your  behalf,  that  as 
you  have  experienced  the  fulfillment  of  the  one 
saying,  'In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation,' 
so  you  may  experience  the  fulfillment  of  the  other, 
c  that  io  Christ  ye  shall  have  peace.'  May  this  peace 
rest  in  your  heart,  and  the  world  will  not  take  it  away. 
Do,  my  dear  sir,  pray  for  the  entire  simplification  of 
your  aim.  '  Let  your  eye  be  single,  and  your  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  light.'  Oh,  at  what  a  distance 
do  I  feel  from  the  principle  of  doing  all  things  for 
the  glory  of  God,  and  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

"I  perhaps,  may  mislead  you  by  the  statement 
I  have  given  you  respecting  our  Institution  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb.  It  has  been  some  little  time  in 
operation,  and  I  do  not  know  that  their  method 
is  the  very  one  of  Mr.  Braid  wood.  But  it  is  a  method 
which,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  found  effectual. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  yours  most  truly, 

"THOMAS  CHALMEKS. 

"P.  S.  Your  observations  respecting  the  philosophy 
of  mind,  as  illustrable  by  the  phenomena  of  education 
in  your  seminary,  are  highly  and  strikingly  just. 
And  this  suggests  to  me  the  mention  of  a  work  just 
now  published,  by  Thomas  Brown,  professor  of  moral 
philosophy,  Edinburgh,  on  Cause  and  Effect.  I  used 
to  admire  his  former  pamphlet  on  this  subject,  and 
I  am  prepared  to  expect  a  very  profound  and  accurate 
exposition  of  this  subtle  and  interesting  argument. 
I  have  just  begun  to  read  it,  and  I  think  you  will 
like  it,  not  merely  as  a  characteristic  of,  but  as  highly 
creditable  to  the  Scottish  metaphysical  school. 

"  Yours,  &c.  «  T.  C." 


REV.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  81 

To  Mr.  Wilder,  on  the  eve  of  sailing  for  France. 

"  Hartford,  March  24th,  1817. 

"My  dear  Friend,— Since  Mrs.  "W.  left  here,  I 
Lave  been  daily  intending  to  write  you  ;  but  consider- 
able indisposition,  much  business,  and  many  anxieties 
have  prevented.     You  will  know  how  to  excuse  me. 

"  You  will,  I  trust,  undertake,  in  concert  with  Cap- 
tain Hall,  the  duty  of  daily  prayer  on  board  the  ship, 
and  of  service  on  the  Sabbath  by  reading  a  sermon. 
Do  not  shrink  from  this  by  saying  you  are  unequal  to 
the  task.  God  will  assist  }^ou  if  you  set  about  it,  rely- 
ing on  his  strength ;  and  it  will  give  you  and  your  dear 
family  a  composure  and  peace  of  mind,  a  reliance  in 
Providence,  and  an  antidote  to  danger,  which  you  will 
not  be  able  to  procure  in  any  other  way.  A  few 
Bibles,  too,  and  tracts  to  distribute  among  the  sailors, 
will  furnish  you  with  an  opportunity  of  doing  some 
good.  My  dear  friend,  these  are  the  tests  of  our  love 
to  Jesus  Christ.  The  more  I  see  of  my  own  heart,  the 
more  I  am  persuaded  of  this  truth,  that  it  has  become 
so  honorable  of  late  to  do  good,  that  it  requires  no  great 
sacrifice  to  be  engaged  in  public  efforts  of  benevolence ; 
but  the  question  a  Christian  has  to  ask  himself  is,  How 
much  do  I  do  for  the  souls  of  those  with  whom  I  am 
daily  associated,  and  in  benefiting  whom,  no  eye  will  see 
me  but  that  of  God  ? 

"  I  do  most  ardently  wish  you  and  your  dear  wife 
and  child  and  mother,  the  protection  and  blessing  of 
God,  and,  above  all,  the  grace  of  his  son  Jesus  Christ, 
to  guard  you  against  the  new  and  unexpected  trials  and 
temptations  which  you  will  undoubtedly  have  to  en- 
counter in  France.  Do  not,  my  dear  friend,  do  not  let 
4* 


82  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

any  motive  of  curiosity,  or  civility  to  others,  suffer  you 
to  encroach  upon  the  Sabbath.  God  will  bless  those 
who  observe  his  ordinances,  and  the  due  observance  of 
his  sacred  day  has,  I  believe,  more  than  anything  else, 
a  tendency  to  keep  us  in  his  fear  during  the  week. 

"  I  shall  not  cease  to  remember  you  at  the  throne  of 
grace,  and  do  not  forget  me ;  for  I,  too,  have  cares  and 
trials  and  temptations  before  me.  Clerc  is  preparing 
some  more  letters.  Do  let  me  hear  from  you  soon. 
Give  my  best  regards  to  your  lady  and  her  mother, 
and  may  God  bless  your  little  ones. 

"  Yours  affectionately, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


From  E.  Kinniburgh. 

"  Edinburgh,  May  1st,  1817. 
11  My  dear  Sir, — Yours,  dated  4th  of  January, 
came  to  hand  about  the  month  of  February.  An  in- 
stitution has  been  formed  at  Dublin,  since  you  were 
here,  but  our  London  friends  still  act  on  the  same  il- 
liberal plan.  An  application  was  made  to  them  to  give 
instruction  to  a  man  who  meant  to  devote  himself 
partly  to  the  work  of  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  but 
it  was  rejected,  of  course.  However,  he  has  begun ;  and 
although  he  must  have  many  difficulties  to  surmount, 
yet  I  hope  he  will  succeed.  Mrs.  Kinniburgh  and 
family  join  me  in  best  wishes  for  your  prosperity,  both 
in  spiritual  and  temporal  concerns.  Believe  me  to  be 
"  Yours  most  affectionately, 

"R.  K." 


EEV.    THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  83 

From  Mr.  Maco.ulay. 

'•London,  Sept.  16th,  1817. 

"My  Dear  Sir, — On  my  return  to  town,  about  a 
fortnight  ago,  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  a  letter 
from  you,  conveying  much  gratifying  intelligence  re- 
specting the  progress  of  your  beneficent  institution,  for 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  benefit  of  the  hitherto  neg- 
lected objects  of  your  care.  I  trust  it  is  under  His 
special  superintendence  who  honoreth  those  who  honor 
him,  and  whose  blessing  alone  is  sufficient  to  crown  with 
success  efforts  begun  in  his  fear  and  directed  to  his  glory. 
May  multitudes  of  those,  whose  ears  you  are  opening, 
and  whose  tongues  you  are  loosing,  prove  your  crown 
of  joy  and  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  their  Savior. 

"I  have  sent  your  letter  to  Miss  H.  More,  and  she 
has  not  yet  returned  it.  I  fear,  therefore,  that  I  may 
omit  some  point  in  it,  to  which  I  ought  to  have  replied. 
I  was  unwilling  to  deny  her  the  gratification  which  the 
perusal  of  it  could  not  fail  to  afford  her,  and  which  it 
did  afford  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Observer,  who 
cannot  but  regard  it  as  a  striking  demonstration  of  the 
power  and  goodness  of  God,  that  he  should  employ 
so  very  unworthy  an  instrument  as  himself,  in  build- 
ing up,  in  however  low  and  menial  a  degree,  the 
Church  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  blood. 

11 1  beg  to  renew  my  assurance  of  the  pleasure  it  will 
always  give  me  to  hear  from  you ;  and,  especially,  to 
hear  of  the  prosperity  of  that  admirable  undertaking 
to  which  you  have  devoted  your  talents. 

"  Mrs.  Macaulay  unites  with  me  in  kind  regards  and 
best  wishes.     I  always  am  my  clear  Sir, 

"Yours,  very  truly,  «Z.  MACAULAY." 


84  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 


From  Miss  Hannah  More. 


"Barley  Wood,  near  Bristol,  28th  April,  1818. 
"Eev.  and  dear  Sir, — I  would  not  return  you  my 
thanks  for  your  kind  letter  and  very  valuable  volume, 
till  I  had  nearly  finished  reading  your  admirable  Ser- 
mons.* You  are  not  one  of  that  numerous  class  of 
authors  whom  it  is  prudent  and  safe  to  thank  for 
their  books  before  one  has  looked  into  them,  as  the 
only  way  of  preserving  both  one's  veracity  and  good 
breeding.  I  declare  my  judgment  is  not  bribed  by 
your  too  flattering  and  most  undeserved  dedication, 
when  I  assure  you,  I  think  '  The  Discourses '  are  of 
a  very  superior  cast.  Though  deeply  serious,  they 
are  perfectly  uninfected  with  any  tincture  of  the  errors 
of  a  certain  new  school  in  theology.  Your  style  and 
manner  are  in  thorough  good  taste,  a  garb  in  which  I 
delight  to  see  sound  divinity  arrayed.  By  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  I  trust  they  will  do  much  good.  The  cir- 
cumstances, too,  under  which  they  were  delivered,  as 
well  as  the  place,  make  them  still  more  interesting  to 
the  reader.  I  was  going  to  point  out  to  you  the  ser- 
mons with  which  I  was  particularly  pleased ;  but  I 
found  the  recapitulation  would  be  almost  universal. 
I  would  not  except  any.  I  was  charmed  and  deeply 
affected  with  the  sweet  letter  of  my  dear  little  dumb 
correspondent,  f  What  heartfelt  joy,  dear  sir,  must 
it  afford  you  to  have  been  the  honored  instrument 
of  rescuing  this,  and  so  many  other  forlorn  little 
creatures  from   a    state   of  almost   nonentity !     (  In- 

*  Preached  in  Paris,  and  first  published  in  England, 
f  Alice  Cogswell. 


EEV.   TIIOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  85 

asmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these, 
ye  have  done  it  to  me,'  says  our  divine  Master. 

"I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  convey  to  your  hands, 
through  Mr.  Macaulay,  a  ten  pound  bank  note,  as 
a  small  token  of  my  admiration  of  your  admirable 
Institution,  to  be  disposed  of  by  you  in  such  a  way 
as  your  judgment  shall  direct  for  its  benefit. 

"  We  have  had  a  most  unhappy  division  in  our 
church.  The  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  my  very  dear  and 
attached  friend,  the  most  exemplary,  laborious,  and 
devoted  prelate  on  the  bench,  has  been  attacked  in 
a  most  outrageous  manner,  while  presiding  at  a 
missionary  meeting  at  Bath,  by  a  hot-headed  bigot 
of  the  same  diocese.  It  has  become  a  sad  party 
business,  and  all  the  really  holy  and  pious  clergy 
have  been  assailed  in  the  grossest  manner.  It  has 
pleased,  however,  Divine  Providence  to  educe  much 
good  out  of  this  temporary  evil.  Our  bishops  and 
clergy  seem  on  a  sudden  to  be  awakened  to  the 
great  and  important  duty  of  missions,  and  measures 
are  about  to  be  taken  for  their  universal  furtherance 
by  those  who  have,  hitherto,  been  the  most  actively 
hostile  to  the  sacred  cause  of  evangelizing  the  world. 
I  pray  for  the  peace  of  our  Jerusalem,  which  has  been 
sadly  interrupted ;  there  will,  however,  always  remain 
a  stray  party  who  are  enemies  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 

"Adieu,  my  dear  sir.  May  it  please  Him  with- 
out whom  nothing  is  strong,  nothing  is  holy,  nothing 
successful,  to  shower  down  his  blessings  on  you, 
and  on  the  great  work  you  have,  by  so  much  labor, 
such  perilous  voyages,  and  such  great  difficulties, 
accomplished ;  and  may  many  of  your  pupils  thank 
you   in  heaven  for  having  been  the  favored  instru- 


86  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

merit   of    bringing    them    thither.      I   remain,    with 
sincere  esteem, 

"  Your  very  faithful  and  obliged, 

"  H.  MORE." 


From  Mr.  Macaulay. 

"  London,  May  6tli,  1818. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  pleasure  to  enclose  a 

letter  from  Miss  Hannah  More.     She  has  desired  me 

also  to  send  you  £10  for  your  Institution.     Permit  me 

to  add  £5  for  myself.     Be  so  good  as  to  draw  on  me 

for  this  sum  at  three  days'  sight ;  and  I  will  thank  you, 

if  there  should  be  any  charge  attending  this  transaction, 

which  would  diminish  its  amount,  to  add  the  same  to  it 

in  the  draft,  so  as  to  leave  the  entire  sum  for  our  deaf 

and  dumb  friends. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"  Z.  MACAULAY." 


Mr.  Gdllaudet  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

"  Hartford,  Sept.  29th,  1818. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  kind  letter 
of  the  4th  of  July.  ...  I  thank  you  for  the  inter- 
est which  you  have  taken  with  regard  to  the  article  in 
the  Christian  Instructor.  A  volume  of  discourses 
which  I  preached  while  in  Paris,  has  lately  been 
printed  in  London.  I  requested  my  friend  there  to 
send  you  a  copy.  I  hope  it  lias  reached  you.  I  also 
beg  you  to  accept  an  American  copy  of  the  same  work, 
which  will  accompany  this  letter ;  and  I  should  deem 


REV.   THOS.    IT.   GALLAUDET.  87 

it  an  act  of  peculiar  friendship,  if  you  would  have  the 
goodness  to  point  out  to  me  some  of  the  most  striking 
defects  in  my  manner  of  thinking  or  writing,  which 
will,  I  doubt  not,  soon  present  themselves  even  to  your 
most  cursory  observation.  Such  a  friendly  criticism 
will  be  of  great  use  to  me,  and  I  assure  you  I  shall 
highly  prize  and  duly  improve  it. 

11 1  regret  that  the  very  feeble  state  of  my  health  pre- 
vents me  from  enjoying  the  satisfaction  I  always  take 
in  writing  you  at  some  length.  My  cares  multiply, 
and  my  novel  employment  has  quite  exhausted  the 
little  stock  of  animal  spirits  I  once  had.  But  I  have 
great  cause  of  gratitude  to  God,  that  he  has  conde- 
scended, as  I  trust,  to  bless  some  of  my  feeble  efforts 
to  do  good  to  the  deaf  and  dumb.  I  see  myself  sur- 
rounded by  forty-four  of  these  unfortunates,  and 
among  this  number  I  find  several  who  begin  to  take  a 
deep  interest  in  divine  truth ;  and  one  who  gives  very 
satisfactory  evidence  of  having  been  born  again. 

"What  you  say  of  the  importance  of  doing  every- 
thing for  Christ,  came  home  to  my  bosom.  How 
wretchedly  do  we  conform  to  the  customs  of  the  world, 
and  soothe  ourselves  with  thinking  that  we  yield  a  par- 
tial compliance  to  them,  that  we  may  insinuate  our- 
selves into  the  favor  of  those  who  are  out  of  Christ, 
and  thus,  as  it  were,  take  them  captives  to  his  king- 
dom by  guile.  If  I  may  judge  from  my  own  heart, 
this  is  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  to  which  Christians 
of  the  present  day  are  exposed.  The  separation-line 
between  the  friends  and  enemies  of  Christ  has  lost  its 
distinctness,  and  we  venture  upon  forbidden  ground, 
in  hopes  to  take  a  prisoner,  while  we  ourselves  are  too 
often  the  vanquished  party. 


»8  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"  What  an  affecting  spectacle  did  I  witness  this 
evening ! 

"Iwas  conversing  by  signs  with  a  little  circle  of 
my  pupils  on  religions  subjects,  when  the  frequent 
sobs  of  a  most  interesting  female  met  my  ear.  '  What 
is  the  matter  ?  '  '  Oh !  I  am  very  wicked.  I  fear  I 
shall  always  be  so ! '  I  endeavored  to  lead  her  to  cast 
herself  upon  the  Friend  of  Sinners.  After  our  evening 
devotions,  which  I  conduct  by  signs,  I  found  her 
still  weeping.  I  sat  by  her.  She  spelt  the  word  '  re- 
pentingf  and  said  she  would  go  to  her  chamber  and 
pray.  Oh,  may  her  prayers  be  heard !  Said  another 
to  me,  'If  we  are  only  some  wicked,  shall  we  go  to 
hell?' 

"My  dear  sir,  pray  for  me,  and  let  your  prayer  cor- 
respond with  your  kind,  brotherly  advice,  'that  my 
eye  may  be  single.'  '  Shall  I  meet  you  in  our  Master's 
kingdom?  I  do  long  to  tell  you  in  person  what  a 
strong  hold  you  have,  not  only  on  the  unfeigned  res- 
pect, but  ardent  affection  of, 

11  Yours  in  the  Lord, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


From  Mr.  Macaulay. 

"  London,  7th  Nov.  1818. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  immediately  forwarded  your 
letter  to  Miss  More.  I  have  not  heard  from  her 
since — indeed  there  has  scarcely  been  time  ;  but  I 
cannot  doubt  that  she  will  readily  accede  to  your  wish 
of  having  her  likeness  to  adorn  the  library  com- 
menced by  her  donation.  She  has,  of  late,  been  suf- 
fering from  severe  attacks  of  illness,  which  have  pro- 


REV.    THOS.    II.    CALLAUDET.  89 

duced  a  considerable  prostration  of  her  strength ;  but 
her  mind,  amidst  the  infirmities  of  sickness  and  age,  re- 
tains all  its  pristine  vigor,  and  she  labors  to  employ 
her  remaining  hours  in  elevating  the  views  and  aims 
of  all  around  her,  from  earth  to  heaven. 

"  The  luminous  account  you  gave  me  of  the  superi- 
ority of  the  French  mode  of  instructing  the  deaf  and 
dumb  over  the  English,  you  will  already  have  seen  in 
the  pages  of  the  Christian  Observer. 

"I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  seen  the  speci- 
men of  American  typography  which  you  have  sent 
me ;  but  it  was  conveyed  to  me  through  the  post- 
office,  with  a  charge  of  £4  5s.  on  the  cover.  I  have 
hesitated  to  pay  this,  and  the  packet  is  still  unopened. 
Whatever  is  put  up  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  if  it  comes 
by  the  packet,  pays  the  full  packet  postage  of  8s.  8d. 
per  oz.,  and  if  by  a  merchant  ship,  half  the  packet 
postage,  besides  the  inland  postage.  I  have,  of  late, 
had  many  such  parcels  addressed  to  me  from  America, 
which  I  have  been  obliged  to  decline  receiving,  on  ac- 
count of  the  enormous  expense  attending  them.  Some 
of  my  American  friends  also  choose  to  address  their 
letters  to  me  by  name,  as  Editor  of  the  C.  0.  This 
alone  forms  a  reason  against  receiving  them.  It  would 
be  a  formal  acknowledgement  of  a  fact,  which  I  have 
never  acknowledged,  except  to  some  private  friends, 
and  which,  indeed,  is  not  known  at  all  to  vast  multi- 
tudes in  this  country,  and  only  surmised  even  by  the 
religious  world  generally. 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  inquiries  respecting 
my  son.*     He  is  now  in  good  health,  and  prosecuting 

*  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay,  since  known  as  the  author  of 
"  The  History  of  England,"  etc. 


90  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

his  studies  with  ardor  at  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge. God  has  been  pleased  to  endow  him  with 
very  considerable  powers  of  mind,  and  with  a  very 
strong  desire  for  knowledge.  My  prayer — and  indeed 
I  am  thankful  to  say,  my  hope  is,  that  these  may  be 
sanctified  and  made  subservient  to  his  glory.  I  have 
many  domestic  blessings,  for  which  I'  am  deeply  in- 
debted to  his  goodness.  Among  the  rest,  the  almost 
uninterrupted  health  which  my  wife  and  nine  children 
have  uniformly  enjoj^ed,  is  to  be  counted  not  one  of 
the  least.  I  recollect  only  two  occasions,  during  the 
twenty  years  of  my  married  life,  on  which  we  have 
experienced  any  material  alarm  from  illness.  I  am 
much  concerned  to  find,  that  your  health  has  been 
affected  by  your  incessant  and  interesting  labors. 
You  ought,  as  a  point  of  duty  and  conscience,  to  hus- 
band your  strength,  until,  at  least,  you  can  find  a  sub- 
stitute capable  of  occupying  your  department  of 
service,  a  life  and  strength  so  important  to  numbers 
of  the  most  hapless  of  our  fellow-creatures. 

"I  have,  of  late,  been  much  occupied  with  the 
Congress  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  You  will  wonder  at 
this.  But  the  slave  trade  was  my  object.  I  have 
strong  hopes  that  something  effectual  will  be  done, 
before  the  sovereigns  separate,  for  that  cause.  I 
framed  an  address  on  the  subject,  which  was  put 
into  their  hands,  and  has  been  well  received.  The 
Emperor  of  Kussia  read  it,  he  said,  with  the  most  en- 
tire satisfaction.  Tie  perfectly  approved  of  the  pro- 
posal, to  make  slave  trading  piracy,  and  would  do  all 
in  his  power  to  effect  this  object.  He  gave  copies  of 
the  address,  with  his  own  hand,  to  the  kings  and  min- 
isters assembled.     '  It  was  not  to  be  endured,'  he  said, 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  91 

4  that  Portugal  should  continue  to  resist  the  united 
wishes  of  Europe,  by  retaining  the  trade  for  a  single 
day  after  other  nations  had  abandoned  it.  As  for  the 
miscreants  who  should  continue  it,  after  it  had  been 
universally  reprobated,  their  only  proper  designation 
and  punishment  were  those  of  pirates.  I  take  shame 
to  myself,'  he  added,  'before  God,  that  we  should 
have  left  this  great  work  unfinished  at  Vienna,  I 
now  see,  that  we  were  guilty  of  a  great  and  criminal 
omission,  which  must  not  be  repeated.  "When  I  con- 
sider what  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Providence,  in 
rescuing  me  and  my  people  from  the  hand  of  the  op- 
pressor, I  should  be  the  most  ungrateful  of  men,  if  I 
did  not  labor,  with  all  my  might,  to  liberate  those 
who  groan  under  a  worse  oppression,  and  especially 
our  wretched  fellow-creatures  in  Africa.'  This  was 
saiil  to  a  friend.  Lord  Castlereagh  and  the  Duke  of 
"Wellington  are  cordially  cooperating  with  him. 

"  The  Emperor  spoke  to  the  same  friend,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Peace  Societies.  He  said,  'he  could 
disapprove  of  no  society  which  had  for  its  object,  to 
hasten  the  happy  time,  which  he  firmly  believed  would 
come,  when  nations  should  learn  war  no  more.  The 
great  thing  to  be  done,  however,  was  rather  to  cure 
the  passions  which  lead  to  war,  than  to  declaim  against 
war  itself.  He  hoped  to  be  able  to  induce  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Europe  to  concur  in  some  plan  of  arbi- 
trating their  differences,  which  might  supersede  an 
appeal  to  arms ;  it  was  impossible,  however,  to  effect 
this  suddenly.' 

"In  thinking  over  the  utility  of  Peace  Societies, 
both  here  and  in  America,  it  occurred  to  me,  that 
there  was  a  way  in  which   they  might  be  infinitely 


92  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

more  beneficially  employed,  than  in  publishing  general 
declamations  against  war  and  its  evils.  If  our  Peace 
Societies  would  take  pains  to  correct  all  the  misrepre- 
sentations and  exaggerations,  respecting  the  state  of 
feeling  towards  us  in  America,  and  to  produce  kindly 
feelings  towards  her,  by  exhibiting  the  various  cir- 
cumstances of  a  favorable  kind,  which  might  be 
noticed ;  and  if  your  Peace  Societies  were  to  pursue 
a  similar  conduct,  with  respect  to  this  country,  I  can 
have  no  question,  it  would  do  more  to  preserve  peace, 
and  prevent  war  between  the  two  countries,  than  all 
the  general  reasoning  on  the  subject  of  war  they  either 
have  employed  or  can  employ.  This  would  be  a 
practical  and  practicable  object.  The  pursuit  of  it 
would  prove  the  sincerity  of  their  professions  and  the 
strength  of  their  principles ;  and  I  think  would  make 
them  popular  in  both  countries. 

"  Mrs.  Macaulay  and  my  brother,  the  General,  who 
is  now  with  us,  unite  in  every  kind  wish,  and  in  all 
assurances  of  esteem  and  regard,  with,  My  dear  sir, 
"  Yours,  very  sincerely, 

"  ZACHAEY  MACAULAY. 

11 1  beg  you  to  remember  me,  with  affection,  to  Dr. 
Muse  and  his  son,  when  you  come  in  their  way." 


From  Mr.  Kinniburgh. 

"  Edinburgh,  May  8th,  1819. 
"  Dear  Sir, — It  affords  me  much  pleasure  to  find 
that  your  Institution  is  so  prosperous,  and  I  shall  al- 
ways be  happy  to  hear  that  your  affairs  succeed  to  your 
mind.     I  hope  the  good  Lord  will  make  you  a  blessing 


EEV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  03 

to  many  in  America,  by  honoring  you  to  be  the  instru- 
ment of  conveying  the  knowledge  of  a  Savior  to  those 
who  otherwise  must  have  remained  ignorant  of  the  way 
of  salvation.  I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  sermons, 
which  breathe  the  spirit  of  our  Lord  and  Savior,  whose 
you  are,  and  whom  you  serve, 

"  There  is  a  school  at  Dundee,  and  one  is  about  to 
be  opened  at  Aberdeen  by  a  young  man,  who  has  been 
at  Paris  for  a  few  months.  One  thing  much  to  be 
lamented  is,  that  some  of  the  teachers  neither  know 
nor  feel  the  power  of  religion,  and,  of  course,  will  not 
take  much  pains  in  instructing  their  pupils  in  the  things 
that  belong  to  their  peace.  All  the  societies  have 
sprung  out  of  our  visit  to  the  different  towns,  showing 
what  has  been  done  here.  I  doubt  much  if  our  well- 
meant  exertions  will  not  ultimately  hurt  the  cause  of 
the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  country.  In  a  late  publica- 
tion a  plan  is  laid  before  the  public  for  a  deaf  and 
dumb  school  in  every  parish !  One  or  two  I  consider 
enough  for  Scotland.     I  remain,  with  much  esteem, 

"  Truly  yours, 

"R.  KINNIBURGH." 


From  Josiah  Pratt. 
"  Church  Missionary  House,  London,  June  22d,  1819. 
"My  dear  Sir, — We  duly  received  your  letters  of 
Nov.  4th  and  23d.     That  of  the  4th,  was  delivered  by 
Mr.  Hillhouse,  of  whom  I  regret  that  I  have  seen  so 
little. 

"I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  valuable  sermons, 
which  will,  I  trust,  do  much  good.  Your  account  of 
"Mowhee,"  as  being  useful  to  your  deaf  and  dumb 


94  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

pupils,  much  interested  us.  You  will  since  have  seen 
the  account  of  Simeon  Wilhelm,  another  converted 
heathen  youth,  dying  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  our  own 
country. 

"  We  have  great  pleasure  in  sending  a  set  of  our  reg- 
isters, and  the  Eeports,  &c,  of  the  Society,  for  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  formed  among  the  students  of  Yale  Col- 
lege. It  gave  us  particular  pleasure  to  hear  of  the 
establishment  of  such  an  institution ;  and  I  will  thank 
vou  to  assure  those  that  are  engaged  in  it,  of  our  cor- 
dial  good  wishes,  and  sincere  prayers  in  its  behalf. 

"  We  shall  be  obliged  to  you,  to  furnish  us  with  regu- 
lar accounts  of  all  proceedings  for  promoting  mission- 
ary objects,  that  come  within  your  reach,  as  we  are 
anxious  to  tell  our  friends  in  England  all  that  is  doing 
in  America,     I  am  ever,  dear  sir, 

"Very  faithfully,  Yours, 

"  JOSIAH  PRATT." 


From  Mr.  Macaulay. 

"  London..  October  9th,  1819. 
16  George  Street,  Mansion  House. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  received,  two  days  ago,  your 
letter  of  the  2nd  of  August,  by  Mr.  Watkinson.  He 
has  not  done  me  the  favor  to  acquaint  me  with  his 
address,  so  that  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of  ac- 
knowledging his  civility.  I  owe  you  a  very  heavy 
arrearage  of  correspondence.  Three  letters  received 
previously  to  this  remain  unanswered,  and  my  con- 
science has  very  often  upbraided  me  with  the  omission. 
But  the  truth  is,  that  the  cares  of  a  family,  and  the 
cares  of  business,  when  combined  with  various  public 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  95 

avocations,  leave  me  very  little  time  for  the  delight- 
ful, but  in  point  of  obligation,  less  urgent  task  of 
cultivating  the  intercourses  of  private  friendship. 
Commercial  engagements  admit  of  no  postponement. 
A  family  of  nine  children  rising  up  to  man  and 
womanhood,  whose  minds  are  to  be  strengthened 
against  temptation,  whose  habits  are  to  be  formed, 
and  whose  understandings  are  to  be  cultivated,  require 
a  large  share  of  time.  Bible  societies,  mission  so- 
cieties, education  societies,  and  African  and  Asiatic 
institutions  press  for  a  portion  of  attention.  A  variety 
of  other  claims,  that  cannot  be  gainsaid,  are  con- 
tinually presenting  themselves.  In  the  midst  of  these, 
the  absent  friend  not  being  at  hand  to  urge  his  claim 
is  almost  sure  to  be  postponed.  He  is  less  clamorous, 
and  although  this  should  only  make  his  claim  the 
more  respected,  yet  from  a  vice  in  our  nature,  I  fear 
it  produces  a  different  effect.  Thus  it  is,  that  week 
after  week,  and  month  after  month  pass,  while  the 
hie  of  unanswered  letters  is  swelling  to  a  mighty 
pile,  and  every  time  it  meets  the  e}Te  inflicts  the 
pang  of  despair  on  the  mind  of  the  hopeless  corres- 
pondent. I  assure  you  I  describe  my  case  truly, 
and  it  is  one  which  claims  your  pity,  in  which,  indeed 
I  am  certain,  you  will  cordially  sympathize,  for  you 
also  know  what  it  is  to  be  loaded  with  engao-ements, 
and  to  have  the  mind  weakened  and  perplexed  by 
them,  while,  perhaps,  besides  all  this,  some  secret 
grief  is  preying  upon  the  spirits,  or  some  touch  of 
bis  hand  who  operates  unseen,  has  paralyzed  the 
power  of  continuous  thought,  or  produced  a  dejection 
that  unfits  the  soul  even  for  the  society  of  those 
we  love. 


96  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"  But  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  all  your  letters,  which 
I  value  highly,  and  I  thank  you  particularly  for 
this  last,  and  its-  enclosure,  which  I  have  transmitted 
to  the  Editor  of  the  C.  0.  I  rejoice  to  observe  the 
progress  of  your  institution,  and  I  trust  you  will 
have  numbers  trained  there  for  your  crown  of  joy 
and  rejoicing.  Miss  H.  More  has  just  lost  her  only 
remaining  sister,  being  the  fourth  taken  from  her 
in  the  course  of  the  last  five  or  six  years.  She  now 
stands  alone  at  the  age  of  75  or  76,  the  only  survivor 
of  her  family,  possessing  indeed,  in  this  state  of 
desolation,  the  regard  and  admiration  of  the  world, 
but  yet  deprived  of  that  which  she  prized  highly, 
and  which  was  one  of  her  chief  earthly  solaces,  the 
sweetness  of  domestic  affection.  Mrs.  Macaulay  and 
my  eldest  daughter,  are  about  to  visit  Barley  Wood 
with  the  intention  of  spending  a  month  or  two  there, 
in  the  hope  of  supplying,  by  their  affectionate  assi- 
duities, the  void  which  her  sister's  death  has  caused, 
and  of  improving  their  own  hearts  by  converse  with 
this  extraordinary  woman,  standing,  as  she  does,  on 
the  verge  of  the  eternity  she  has  so  long  contemplated, 
and  looking  forward  to  an  early  departure  to  that 
Savior,  whom  she  has  so  long  and  so  faithfully 
served.  You,  probably,  have  seen  her  last  work, 
published  about  two  months  ago.  It  leaves  no  marks 
of  mental  decay.  I  passed  a  few  days  with  her  in 
the  month  of  July.  We  talked  of  you  and  }-our 
interesting  pupil,  and  your  no  less  interesting  sermons, 
of  which  she  is  a  warm  admirer. 

"  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"ZACHARY  MACAULAY." 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  97 

Mr.  Gallaudet  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

"  New  York,  Sept.  20th,  1820. 

"My  Dear  Sir, — Your  very  valuable  present  of  your 
volume  of  sermons,  with  the  accompanying  letter,  has 
been  received,  for  which  I  sincerely  thank  you.  If  I 
am  not  mistaken,  I  sent  you  a  few  months  ago,  a  small 
packet  of  pamphlets  ;  I  hope  you  have  received  them. 

"Your  late  writings,  some  of  which  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing,  while  the  outlines  of  others  I  have 
gathered  from  the  notices  taken  of  them  in  reviews 
and  other  periodical  publications —  indirectly  inform 
me  of  the  continuance  of  your  life  and  usefulness.  May 
all  your  labors  be  crowned  with  the  most  signal  bless- 
ing from  the  great  Head  of  the  Church ! 

"  My  employment  of  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  has 
unfolded  to  my  view,  perhaps  a  too  sanguine  one,  a 
new  mode  of  gaining  access  to  the  minds  of  such 
heathen  nations  as  have  no  written  or  printed  language. 
I  have  been  trying  to  digest  my  thoughts  into  a  regu- 
lar essay  on  the  subject,  which,  should  it  appear  before 
the  public  in  any  form,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  trans- 
mitting to  you. 

11  My  speculations  have  grown  out  of  a  few  very  sing- 
ular facts,  which  were  providentially  presented  to  my 
notice.  We  have  in  Connecticut  a  school  for  the  educa- 
tion of  heathen  youth.  I  visited  it  two  years  ago.  I 
gathered  round  me  one  evening,  a  dozen  of  th,  3  pupils, 
among  whom  were  individuals  of  three  different  tribes  of 
our  American  Indians;  some  Owhyeans,  and  Otaheitans, 
and  one  Malay.  I  talked  to  them  by  mere  signs.  I 
was  understood  on  all  common  subjects.  I  even  suc- 
ceeded in  making  them  comprehend  some  questions 


98  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

winch  I  proposed  to  them  about  a  future  state,  and 
their  souls  and  the  Supreme  Being.  I  ascertained  the 
correct  meaning  of  many  of  the  words  of  the  Owyhean 
language,  by  signs  merely.  Not  long  after,  one  of 
their  number,  Thomas  Hoopoo,  who  has  since  gone  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands  as  a  missionary,  visited  our  asy- 
lum. He  conversed  with  our  pupils  by  signs,  a  full 
hour,  and  was  well  understood.  Now  if  the  Christian 
missionary,  who  goes  to  a  people,  who  have  only  an 
oral  language,  of  which  he  is  quite  ignorant,  were 
acquainted  with  the  language  of  signs  and  gestures,  he 
would,  in  my  apprehension,  have  a  medium  of  inter- 
course with  them,  almost  at  once,  on  all  common  topics, 
which  would  soon  grow  into  a  more  distinct  and  copi- 
ous language,  and  thus  lay  the  foundation  for  the 
speedy  and  correct  acquisition  of  the  language  of  the 
country.  For  the  moment  that  two  minds  have  one 
medium  of  intercourse  with  each  other,  no  matter  what 
that  medium  be,  it  may  be  the  language  of  signs  as 
well  as  any  other  language,  they  can,  by  substitution, 
or  what  we  generally  term  translation,  employ  a  cor- 
responding medium,  composed  of  a  quite  different 
language. 

"  Besides,  a  purely  oral  language,  can  only  be  learned 
by  a  stranger,  who  goes  among  those  who  speak  it,  by 
noticing  the  successive  objects,  actions,  emotions,  opera- 
tions of  the  mind  and  heart;  occasions  and  circum- 
stances to  which,  singly  or  collectively,  the  words  of 
the  language  are  applied.  All  such  notice  must  be 
made  by  the  eye.  Now  the  same  objects,  actions,  &c, 
can  be  faithfully  depicted  by  the  pantomimic  repre- 
sentation of  them  by  signs  and  gestures  addressed  to 
the  eye,  and  with  some  peculiar  advantages;  for  they 


HEV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  99 

can  be  depicted  at  any  time,  whereas  a  great  delay 
must  often  take  place  for  their  recurrence  in  actual  life; 
they  can  be  depicted  with  all  possible  varieties  of  com- 
bination, whereas  you  have  no  control  over  the  order 
in  which  they  shall  occur  in  real  life ;  they  can  be  de- 
picted so  as  to  separate  from  them  all  that  is  vague  or 
irrelevant,  whereas  in  real  life,  a  great  many  adventi- 
tious circumstances  are  of  necessity  blended  with  those 
which  form  the  precise  assemblage  to  which  a  particu- 
lar word  or  phrase  is  applied,  and  it  is  some  time  before 
the  observer  can  fasten  upon  the  circumstances  which 
are  denoted  by  the  word  or  phrase  and  those  which 
are  merely  accidental  appendages.  I  hope  my  subject 
will  not  suffer  in  your  judgment,  from  the  present 
hasty  and  loose  manner  in  which  I  have  given  you  a 
few  thoughts  upon  it ;  I  hope  to  do  it  more  justice  in 
the  future.  I  send  you  our  last  report.  I  shall  be  ex- 
tremely glad  to  have  even  a  few  lines  from  you,  when 
your  leisure  will  permit. 

"  Yours,  in  Christian  affection, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 
"  Rev.  Thos.  Chalmers,  D.  D." 


\ 


100  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 


CHAPTER    IV. 

While  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  pursuing  his  inquiries 
and  studies  abroad,  the  friends  of  the  object  at  home 
were  preparing  the  way  for  its  successful  prosecution 
on  his  return.  In  May,  1816,  they  procured  an  act 
of  incorporation  from  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut, 
by  the  name  of  "  The  Connecticut  Asylum  for  the 
Education  of  Deaf  and  Dumb  Persons,"  but  it  could 
not  be  opened  at  once.  It  required  a  number  of 
months  to  interest  the  public  mind  in  regard  to  the 
practicability  of  the  new  undertaking,  and  in  collecting 
funds  for  the  immediate  wants  of  the  establishment. 
This  agency  devolved  chiefly  upon  Mr.  Grallaudet,  and 
he  visited  some  of  our  large  cities  with  very  encour- 
aging success.  No  other  person,  it  is  believed,  could 
have  inspired  so  much  confidence  just  then,  when  it 
was  essential  to  a  favorable  commencement  of  the 
benevolent  enterprise.  The  Asylum  was  opened  on 
the  20th  of  April,  1817,  by  Mr.  Gallaudet,  with  the 
following  introductory 

DISCOURSE. 

"Just  two  years  have  elapsed,  since  the  first  steps 
were  taken  toward  the  establishment,  in  this  city,  of 
an  Asylum  for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
Those  who  then  embarked  in  this  enterprise,  felt  it  to 


\ 


and 


com 


ff] 


and 


BBV.   THOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  101 

be  their  duty  to  commend  its  future  prospects  to  the 
protection  of  that  Arm,  which  moves  so  easily  the 
complicated  springs  of  human  action,  and  wields,  with 
unerring  wisdom,  the  vast  machinery  of  providence. 
Their  united  supplications  ascended  from  the  lips  of 
one,  whose  venerable  presence  has  so  often  filled  this 
sacred  desk,  and  whose  spirit  perhaps  now  witnesses 
the  fulfillment,  in  some  good  degree,  of  his  wishes,  and 
the  answer  of  heaven  to  his  requests.  His  *  voice  no 
more  guides  our  devotions,  nor  animates  us  in  the  path 
of  duty  !  But  his  memory  is  cherished  in  our  hearts, 
and,  on  occasions  like  the  present,  while  we  mourn  his 
absence  and  feel  his  loss,  let  it  be  a  source  of  grateful 
consolation  to  us,  that  the  undertaking,  of  which  this 
evening  is  the  anniversary,  began  under  the  hopeful 
influence  of  his  prayers.  It  has  met,  indeed,  with 
difficulties,  and  still  labors  under  embarrassments, 
which  are  incident  to  almost  all  the  untried  efforts 
of  benevolence.  Yet,  in  its  gradual  progress,  it  has 
been  encouraged  by  the  smiles  of  a  kind  Providence, 
and  is  at  length  enabled  to  commence  its  practical 
operation. 

"At  such  a  season,  the  directors  of  its  concerns 
have  thought,  that  a  remembrance  of  past  favors,  and 
a  conviction  of  future  dependence  on  God,  rendered 
it  proper  again  to  unite  in  solemn  acts  of  religious 
worship.  These  acts  they  have  made  thus  public,  from 
a  grateful  sense  of  the  general  interest  that  has  been 
expressed  toward  the  Asylum,  and  it  is  at  their  re- 
quest that  the  speaker  rises  to  address  this  respectable 
assembly. 

*  Rev.  Nathan  Strong,  D.  D.,  in  whose  church  this  sermon  was 
delivered. 


102  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

11  He  enters  upon  the  duty  which  has  thus  devolved 
upon  him,  not  reluctantly,  yet  with  diffidence  and 
solicitude,  principally  fearing  that  the  cause  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb  may  suffer,  and  yet  hoping  that  God, 
in  whose  hands  the  feeblest  instruments  are  strong, 
will  deign  to  make  our  meditations  not  only  produc- 
tive of  benefit  to  the  unfortunate  objects  of  our  pity, 
but  of  eternal  good  to  our  own  souls.  And,  my 
friends,  how  soon  would  the  apologies  of  the  speaker, 
and  the  implored  candor  of  his  hearers,  pass  into  for- 
getful ness,  could  we  feel  that  we  are  in  the  presence 
of  Almighty  God,  and  that  the  awful  destinies  of  our 
immortal  existence  are  connected  with  the  events  of 
this  passing  hour  !  May  the  Spirit  of  Grace  impress 
these  truths  upon  our  hearts,  while  we  take,  as  the 
guide  of  our  thoughts,  that  portion  of  scripture  which 
is  contained  in  the  35th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  the  5th 
and  6th  verses. 

"  l  Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  he  opened,  and  the 
ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped.  Then  shall  the  lame 
man  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sing ; 
for  in  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams 
in  the  desert. 

"  These  words  depict  a  part  of  the  visions  of  futurity 
which  gladdened  the  e}^e  of  Isaiah,  and  which  irradiate 
his  writings  with  so  cheering  a  luster,  that  he  has 
been  called  '  the  evangelical  prophet.'  His  predictions 
are  assuming,  in  our  day,  some  of  their  most  glorious 
forms  of  fulfillment.  For,  although  they  had  a  more 
direct  reference  to  the  time  of  our  Savior,  by  whose 
miraculous  energy  the  ears  of  the  deaf  were  opened, 
and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  loosened,  yet,  without 


REV.   TIIOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  103 

doubt,  as  might  be  proved  from  the  general  scope  and 
tenor  of  the  prophetic  writings,  they  equally  allude  to 
the  universal  diffusion  of  the  Gospel  in  these  latter 
ages  of  the  church,  and  to  its  happy  influence  upon 
the  hearts  of  all  mankind.  The  same  Savior,  who 
went  about  doing  good,  is  also  the  Lord  of  this  lower 
creation.  He  once  performed  the  acts  of  his  kindness 
by  the  mere  word  of  his  power ;  he  now  is  mindful 
of  the  necessitous,  and  makes  provision  for  them, 
through  the  medium  of  his  providential  dispensations. 
It  should  be  matter,  therefore,  of  encouragement  to  us, 
that  the  establishment,  which  is  now  ready  to  receive 
within  its  walls  the  sons  and  daughters  of  misfortune, 
however  humble  may  be  its  sphere  of  exertion,  is  not 
overlooked  in  the  economy  of  the  Eedeemer's  king- 
dom ;  that  its  probable  influence  is  even  shadowed 
forth  in  the  sayings  of  prophecy ;  and  that  it  forms 
one  link  in  that  golden  chain  of  universal  good-will, 
which  will  eventually  embrace  and  bind  together  the 
whole  family  of  man.  Let  it  awaken  our  gratitude  to 
think,  that  our  feeble  efforts  are  not  disregarded  by 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  and  that  we  are  per- 
mitted thus  to  cast  our  mite  into  his  treasury. 

"In  the  chapter  from  which  the  words  of  my  text 
are  taken,  the  prophet  has  described  the  blessings  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom  in  the  richest  colors  of  oriental 
imagery.  He  portrays,  by  the  strongest  and  boldest 
figures,  the  joy  that  will  be  diffused  throughout  the 
earth  when  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  have  been 
proclaimed  to  all  people,  and  its  principles  made  the 
universal  rule  of  thought  and  conduct.  He  would 
thus  teach  us  the  intimate  connection,  even  in  this 
world,  between  holiness  and  haDoiness,  and  excite  our 


104  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

efforts  toward  hastening  on  the  latter  day  glory  of  the 
church,  by  placing  before  us  the  advantages  that  will 
result  from  it.  Every  exertion,  then,  of  Christian 
benevolence,  which  forms  a  part  of  the  great  system 
of  doing  good,  is  entitled,  so  to  speak,  to  the  encour- 
agements which  the  prophet  holds  forth.  I  shall  not, 
therefore,  depart  from  the  spirit  of  the  text  if,  on  the 
present  occasion,  I  attempt  to  describe  some  of  the 
benefits  which  will  result  from  the  exertions  which 
are  making  for  the  improvement  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  and  thus  show  how  it  will  happen,  that  in 
this  department  of  Christian  benevolence,  'in  the 
wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams  in  the 
desert.' 

"  The  whole  plan  of  my  discourse,  then,  will  be  to 
state  several  advantages  which  will  arise  from  the 
establishment  of  this  Asylum,  and  to  propose  several 
motives  which  should  inspire  those  who  are  interested 
in  its  welfare,  with  renewed  zeal,  and  the  hopes  of 
ultimate  success. 

"  The  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  if  properly 
conducted,  has  a  tendency  to  give  important  aid  to 
many  researches  of  the  philanthropist,  the  philosopher, 
and  the  divine.  The  philanthropist  and  the  philoso- 
pher are  deeply  interested  in  the  business  of  education. 
The  cultivation  of  the  human  mind  is  paramount  to 
all  other  pursuits;  inasmuch  as  spirit  is  superior  to 
matter,  and  eternity  to  time.  Youth  is  the  season  in 
which  the  powers  of  the  mind  begin  to  develop  them- 
selves, and  language,  the  grand  instrument  by  which 
this  development  is  to  take  place.  Now  it  is  beyond 
all  doubt,  that  great  improvement  has  been  made  in 
the  mode  of  instructing  children  in  the  use  and  power 


REV.   TIIOS.   IT.   GALLAUDET.  105 

of  language.  To  what  extent  these  improvements 
may  yet  be  carried,  time  alone  can  determine.  The 
very  singular  condition  in  which  the  minds  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb  are  placed,  and  the  peculiar  means 
which  are  necessarily  employed  in  their  instruction, 
may  furnish  opportunities  for  observation  and  experi- 
ment, and  the  establishment  of  principles  with  regard 
to  the  education  of  youth,  which  will  not  be  without 
essential  service  in 'their  general  application.  How 
much  light,  also,  may  in  this  way  be  thrown  upon 
what  are  supposed  to  be  the  original  truths,  felt  and 
recognized  to  be  such  by  the  mind,  without  any  reason- 
ing process.  Many  speculations,  too,  which  now  are 
obscure  and  unsettled,  respecting  the  faculties  of  the 
human  mind,  may  be  rendered  more  clear  and  satis- 
factory. How  many  questions,  also,  may  be  solved, 
concerning  the  capability  of  man  to  originate  of  him- 
self the  notion  of  a  God  and  of  a  future  state,  or,  ad- 
mitting his  capacity  to  do  this,  whether,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  he  ever  would  do  it.  What  discoveries  may 
be  made  respecting  the  original  notions  of  right  and 
wrong,  the  obligations  of  conscience,  and,  indeed,  most 
of  the  similar  topics  connected  with  the  moral  sense. 
These  hints  are  sufficient  to  show  that,  aside  from  the 
leading  and  more  important  uses  of  giving  instruction 
to  the  deaf  and  dumb,  their  education  might  be  made 
to  subserve  the  general  cause  of  humanity,  and  of 
correct  philosophy  and  theology. 

"  But  I  pass  to  considerations  of  more  immediate 
advantage ;  and  one  is,  that  of  affording  consolation  to 
the  relatives  and  friends  of  these  unfortunates.  Parents ! 
make  the  case  your  own.  Fathers  and  mothers!  think 
what  would  be  your  feelings,  were  the  son  of  your  ex- 
5* 


106  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

pcctations,  or  the  daughter  of  your  hopes,  to  be  found 
in  this  unhappy  condition.  The  lamp  of  reason  already 
lights  its  infant  eye;  the  smile  of  intelligence  plays 
upon  its  countenance ;  its  little  hand  is  stretched  forth 
in  significant  expression  of  its  wants ;  the  delightful 
season  of  prattling  converse  has  arrived  :  but  its  art- 
less lispings  are  in  vain  anticipated  with  paternal 
ardor;  the  voice  of  maternal  affection  falls  unheard 
on  its  ear ;  its  silence  begins  to  betray  its  misfortune, 
and  its  look  and  gesture  soon  prove  that  it  must  be 
for  ever  cut  off  from  colloquial  intercourse  with  man, 
and  that  parental  love  must  labor  under  unexpected 
difficulties,  in  preparing  it  for  its  journey  through  the 
thorny  world  upon  which  it  has  entered.  How  many 
experiments  must  be  made  before  its  novel  language 
can  be  understood !  How  often  must  its  instruction 
be  attempted  before  the  least  improvement  can  take 
place !  How  imperfect,  after  every  effort,  must  this 
improvement  be  !  Who  shall  shape  its  future  course 
through  life?  who  shall  provide  it  with  sources  of 
intellectual  comfort?  who  shall  explain  to  it  the  in- 
visible realities  of  a  future  world  ?  All !  my  hearers, 
I  could  spread  before  you  scenes  of  a  mother's  anguish, 
I  ,could  read  to  you  letters  of  a  father's  anxiety,  which 
would  not  fail  to  move  your  hearts  to  pity,  and  your 
eyes  to  tears,  and  to  satisfy  you  that  the  prospect, 
which  the  instruction  of  their  deaf  and  dumb  children 
opens  to  parents,  is  a  balm  for  one  of  the  keenest  of 
sorrows,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  relief  for  what  has  been 
hitherto  considered  an  irremediable  misfortune. 

"  The  most  important  advantages,  however,  in  the 
education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  accrue  to  those  who 
are  the  subjects  of  it;  and  these  are  advantages  which 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  107 

it  is  extremely  difficult  for  those  of  us,  who  are  in 
possession  of  all  our  faculties,  duly  to  appreciate.  He 
whose  pulse  has  always  beat  high  with  health,  little 
understands  the  rapture  of  recovery  from  sickness. 
He  who  has  always  trod  the  soil  and  breathed  the 
air  of  freedom,  cannot  sj^mpathize  with  the  feelings 
of  ecstacy  which  glo~w  in  the  breast  of  him  who, 
having  long  been  the  tenant  of  some  dreary  dungeon, 
is  brought  forth  to  the  cheering  influence  of  light  and 
liberty. 

"  But  there  is  a  sickness  more  dreadful  than  that  of 
the  body ;  there  are  chains  more  galling  than  those  of 
the  dungeon— the  immortal  mind  preying  upon  itself, 
and  so  imprisoned  as  not  to  be  able  to  unfold  its  intel- 
lectual and  moral  powers,  and  to  attain  to  the  com- 
prehension and  enjoyment  of  those  objects,  which  the 
Creator  has  designed  as  the  sources  of  its  highest  ex- 
pectations and  hopes.  Such  must  often  be  the  con- 
dition of  the  uninstructed  deaf  and  dumb.  What 
mysterious  darkness  must  sadden  their  souls !  How 
imperfectly  can  they  account  for  the  wonders  that 
surround  them !  Must  not  each  one  of  them,  in  the 
language  of  thought,  sometimes  say,  '  What  is  it  that 
makes  me  differ  from  my  fellow-men  ?  Why  are  they 
so  much  my  superiors  ?  What  is  that  strange  mode 
of  communicating,  by  which  they  understand  each 
other  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  and  which  en- 
livens their  faces  with  the  brightest  expressions  of  joy  ? 
Why  do  I  not  possess  it,  or  why  can  it  not  be  commu- 
nicated to  me  ?  What  are  those  mysterious  characters, 
over  which  they  pore  with  such  incessant  delight,  and 
which  seem  to  gladden  the  hours  that  pass  by  me  so 
sad  and  cheerless  ?     What  mean   the  ten  thousan4 


108  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

customs,  which  I  witness  in  the  private  circles  and  the 
public  assemblies,  and  which  possess  such  mighty  in- 
fluence over  the  conduct  and  feelings  of  those  around 
me?  And  that  termination  of  life — that  placing  in 
the  cold  bosom  of  the  earth  those  whom  I  have  loved 
so  long  and  so  tenderly ;  how  it  makes  me  shudder ! 
What  is  death  ?  Why  are  my  friends  thus  laid  by 
and  forgotten?  Will  they  never  revive  from  this 
strange  slumber?  Shall  the  grass  always  grow  over 
them  ?  Shall  I  see  their  faces  no  more  for  ever  ?  And 
must  I  also  thus  cease  to  move  and  fall  into  an  eternal 
sleep  ? ' 

"  And  these  are  the  meditations  of  an  immortal  mind^ 
looking  through  the  gates  of  its  prison-house  upon 
objects  on  which  the  rays  of  revelation  shed  no  light, 
but  all  of  which  are  obscured  by  the  shadows  of  doubt, 
or  shrouded  in  the  darkest  gloom  of  ignorance.  And 
this  mind  may  be  set  free,  may  be  enabled  to  expatiate 
through  the  boundless  fields  of  intellectual  and  moral 
research — may  have  the  cheering  doctrines  of  life  and 
immortality,  through  Jesus  Christ,  unfolded  to  its  view ; 
may  be  led  to  understand  who  is  the  Author  of  its  be- 
ing ;  what  are  its  duties  to  him ;  how  its  offences  may 
be  pardoned  through  the  blood  of  the  Savior ;  how 
its  affections  may  be  purified  through  the  influences  of 
the  Spirit ;  how  it  may  at  last  gain  the  victory  over 
death,  and  triumph  over  the  horrors  of  the  grave.  In- 
stead of  having  the  scope  of  its  vision  terminated  by 
the  narrow  horizon  of  human  life,  it  stretches  into  the 
endless  expanse  of  eternity ;  instead  of  looking,  with 
contracted  gaze,  at  the  little  circle  of  visible  objects, 
with  which  it  is  surrounded,  it  rises  to  the  majestic 
contemplation  of  its  own  immortal  existence,  to  the 


REV.   TIIOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  100 

sublime  conception  of  an  infinite  and  supreme  intelli- 
gence, and  to  the  ineffable  displays  of  bis  goodness  in 
the  wonders  of  redeeming  love. 

Behold  these  immortal  minds !  Some  of  them  are 
before  yon ;  the  pledges,  we  trust,  of  multitudes  who 
will  be  rescued  from  the  thraldom  of  ignorance :  pur- 
sue, in  imagination,  their  future  progress  in  time  and  in 
eternity,  and  say,  my  hearers,  whether  I  appreciate  too 
highly  the  blessings  which  we  wish  to  be  made  the  in- 
struments of  conferring  upon  the  deaf  and  dumb  ? 

For  the  means  of  anticipating  these  blessings,  the 
deaf  and  dumb  owe  much  to  the  liberality  of  generous 
individuals  in  our  sister  states ;  whose  benevolence  is 
only  equaled  by  the  expanded  view  which  they  take 
of  the  importance  of  concentrating,  at  present,  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  in  one  establishment,  that,  by  the 
extent  of  its  means,  the  number  of  its  pupils,  and  the 
qualifications  of  its  instructors,  it  may  enjoy  the  oppor- 
tunity of  maturing  a  uniform  system  of  education  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  of  training  up  teachers  for  such 
remoter  places  as  may  need  similar  establishments. 

This  state,  too,  has,  we  trust,  given  a  pledge  that  it 
will  not  abandon  an  Asylum,  which  its  own  citizens 
have  had  the  honor  of  founding ;  and  which  claims  a 
connection  (a  humble  one  indeed,)  with  its  other 
humane  and  literary  institutions. 

In  this  city,  however,  have  the  principal  efforts  been 
made  in  favor  of  this  undertaking.  Here,  in  the  wise 
dispensations  of  his  providence,  Grod  saw  fit  to  afflict  an 
interesting  child  with  this  affecting  calamity,  that  her 
misfortune  might  move  the  feelings,  and  rouse  the 
efforts,  of  her  parents  and  friends  in  behalf  of  her 
fellow-sufferers.      Here  was  excited,  in  consequence, 


110  LIFE  AND   LABOHS  OF 

that  spirit  of  research,  which  led  to  the  melancholy 
discovery  that  our  own  small  state  probably  contains 
one  hundred  of  these  unfortunates.  Here  were  raised 
up  the  original  benefactors  of  the  deaf  and  dumb; 
whose  benevolence  has  enabled  the  Asylum  to  open 
its  doors  for  the  reception  of  pupils  much  sooner  than 
was  at  first  contemplated.  Here  the  hearts  of  many 
have  been  moved  to  offices  of  kindness  and  labors  of 
love,  which  the  objects  of  their  regard  will  have  reason 
ever  to  remember  with  affectionate  gratitude ;  and  here 
is  witnessed,  for  the  first  time  in  this  western  world, 
the  affecting  sight  of  a  little  group  of  fellow-sufferers 
assembling  for  instruction,  whom  neither  sex,  nor  age, 
nor  distance,  could  prevent  from  hastening  to  embrace 
the  first  opportunity  of  aspiring  to  the  privileges  that 
we  enjoy  as  rational,  social,  and  immortal  beings.  They 
know  the  value  of  the  gift  that  is  offered  them,  and  are 
not  reluctant  to  quit  the  delights  of  their  native  home, 
(delights  doubly  dear  to  those  whose  circle  of  enjoy- 
ment is  so  contracted,)  not  to  forsake  the  endearments 
of  the  parental  roof,  that  they  may  find,  in  a  land  of 
strangers,  and  through  toils  of  indefatigable  persever- 
ance, the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge !  How 
can  the  importunity  of  such  suppliants  be  rejected ! 
Hard  is  that  heart  which  can  resist  such  claims  upon 
its  kindness. 

Nor,  we  trust,  will  motives  be  found  wanting  for 
future  exertions  in  behalf  of  these  children  of  misfor- 
tune. It  is  always  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
Efforts  of  charity,  prudently  and  usefully  directed, 
never  fail  abundantly  to  repay  those  by  whom  they 
are  made.  This  is  true,  not  only  with  regard  to  indi- 
viduals, but  also  public  bodies  of  men.     That  town, 


KEY.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  Ill 

whose  character  is  one  of  benevolence  and  good- will 
toward  the  unhappy,  enjoys,  in  the  opinion  of  all  the 
wise  and  good,  a  reputation  more  exalted,  more  valu- 
able, more  noble,  than  it  can  possibly  gain  by  the  most 
extensive  pursuits  of  commerce  and  the  arts ;  by  the 
most  elaborate  improvements  in  trade  or  manufactures ; 
by  the  richest  displays  of  its  wealth,  or  the  splendor  of 
its  edifices;  by  the  proudest  monuments  of  its  taste  or 
genius.  It  gains,  too,  the  smiles  of  heaven,  whose 
blessings  descend  upon  it  in  various  forms  of  divine 
munificence.  While  the  hearts  of  its  inhabitants  ex- 
pand in  charity  toward  others,  and  the  labors  of  their 
hands  are  united  in  one  common  object,  they  learn 
together  the  pleasure  of  doing  good — they  find,  at  least, 
one  green  spot  of  repose  in  the  desert  of  life,  where  they 
may  cull  some  fruits  of  paradise,  and  draw  refreshment 
from  streams  that  flow  from  the  river  of  Grocl.  They  feel 
that  they  are  fellow- pilgrims  in  the  same  wilderness  of 
cares  and  sorrows,  and  while  they  look  to  that  country 
to  which  we  are  all  hastening,  while  they  tread  in  the 
footsteps  of  Him  who  ivent  about  doing  good,  how  quickly 
do  their  differences  of  opinion  soften ;  the  lines  of  sec- 
tarian division  melt  away  ;  and  even  political  jealousies 
and  animosities  retire  into  the  shades  of  forgetfulness. 

Yes,  my  hearers,  godliness  hath  the  promise  of  this 
life,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come.  The  spirit  of 
Christian  benevolence  is  the  only  one  which  will  change 
completely  the  aspect  of  human  affairs.  It  has  already 
begun  to  knit  together  the  affections,  not  only  of  towns 
and  villages,  but  of  numerous  sects  throughout  the 
world,  and  seems  to  be  preparing  to  embrace  within  its 
influence  even  states  and  kingdoms.  On  its  hallowed 
ground  a  respite  is  given  to  political  and  religious  war- 


112  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

fare ;  men  lay  down  the  weapons  of  contention,  and 
cherish,  for  a  season  at  least,  the  divine  temper  of  peace 
on  earth,  and  good- will  toward  men. 

Every  charitable  effort,  conducted  upon  Christian 
principles,  and  with  a  dependence  on  the  supreme  Head 
of  the  Church,  forms  a  part  of  the  great  system  of  do- 
ing good,  and  looks  forward  to  that  delightful  day, 
when  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

While,  therefore,  my  hearers,  I  would  endeavor  to 
excite  an  interest  in  your  hearts  in  behalf  of  our  infant 
establishment,  by  portraying  its  advantages,  and  ad- 
dressing to  you  motives  of  encouragement  with  regard 
to  its  future  progress,  drawn  from  topics  of  a  more  per- 
sonal and  local  kind,  permit  me  to  place  before  you 
the  purest  and  noblest  motive  of  all,  in  this  and  in 
every  charitable  exertion — the  tendency  it  will  have  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  the  Redeemer'1  s  lemgdom. 

It  was  the  future  advent  of  this  kingdom  which  filled 
the  heart  of  the  prophet  with  rapture,  when  he  wrote 
the  chapter  which  as  been  read  in  our  hearing.  Do  we 
participate,  in  any  degree,  of  his  spirit  ?  Do  our  efforts 
for  doing  good,  however  humble  may  be  their  sphere 
of  influence,  proceed  from  a  wish  that  thus  we  may  be 
made  the  instruments  of  advancing  that  happy  period, 
when  the  heathen  shall  he  given  to  Christ  for  his  inherit- 
ance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  posses- 
sio?i ;  when,  through  the  influence  of  his  Gospel,  and 
the  efficacy  of  his  grace,  '  the  wilderness  and  the  soli- 
tary place  shall  be  glad,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice 
and  blossom  as  the  rose ;'  when  '  the  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return,  and  come  to  Zion,  with  songs  and 
everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads ;'   when  ( they  shall 


I 


RET.   THOS.    H.   GALLAUDET.  113 

obtain  joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall 
flee  away.' 

It  is  Jesus  Christ  whom  we  are  thus  bound  to  love, 
to  imitate  and  to  obey.  We  are  stewards,  but  of  his 
bounty  :  we  are  laborers  in  his  vineyard.  Whatsoever 
we  do,  should  be  done  in  his  name.  For  it  is  by  this 
test  that  all  our  efforts  to  do  good  will  be  tried  at  the 
great  day  of  his  dread  and  awful  retribution.  Let  us 
not  fail,  then,  to  make  a  suitable  improvement  of  this 
occasion,  by  inquiring,  whether  our  benevolence  toward 
men,  springs  from  love  toward  the  Savior  of  our  souls ; 
whether  our  humanity  is  something  more  than  the  off- 
spring of  mere  sympathetic  tenderness  ;  for  it  is  a  truth 
wmich  rests  on  the  authority  of  our  final  Judge,  that 
without  the  principle  of  divine  love  within  our  breasts, 
we  may  bestow  all  our  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  we  may 
give  our  very  bodies  to  be  burned,  and  yet  by  all  this  be 
profited  nothing. 

AVhile  we  seek,  therefore,  to  soothe  the  distresses 
and  dispel  the  ignorance  of  the  unfortunate  objects  of 
our  regard  ;  while  we  would  unfold  to  them  the  won- 
ders of  that  religion  in  which  we  profess  to  believe, 
and  set  before  them  the  love  of  that  Savior  on  whom 
all  our  hopes  rest ;  let  us  be  grateful  to  God  for  the 
very  superior  advantages  which  we  enjoy;  consider 
how  imperfectly  we  improve  them ;  be  mindful  that 
after  all  we  do,  we  are  but  unprofitable  servants ;  and 
thus,  feeling  the  necessity  of  our  continual  reliance 
upon  Jesus  Christ,  trust  alone  to  his  righteousness  for 
acceptance  with  God.  That  this  may  be  the  sure 
foundation  to  each  one  of  us,  of  peace  in  this  world, 
and  of  happiness  in  the  next,  may  God  of  his  mercy 
grant.     Amen." 


114  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

At  first  only  seven  pupils  entered  the  institution, 
but  before  the  end  of  the  year  the  number  had  in- 
creased to  thirty  -  three ;  and  so  successful  was  the 
experiment,  that  it  brought  applications  for  admis- 
sion from  all  quarters,  insomuch,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  generous  grant  from  the  legislature  of  five  thous- 
and dollars,  the  directors  had  not  the  funds  to  aid 
those  unfortunate  applicants,  whose  friends  were  un- 
able to  meet  the  expense  of  supporting  them.  This 
sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  was  afterwards  expended 
by  the  Asylum  in  educating  indigent  pupils  of  the 
State.  The  next  event  of  special  interest  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Asylum  was  the  completion,  occupation, 
and  dedication  of  the  principal  building.  The  services 
of  dedication  took  place  on  the  22d  of  May,  1821,  and 
was  in  accordance  with  that  spirit  of  dependence  on 
God,  which  led  the  projectors  of  the  institution  unitedly 
to  seek  his  blessing  in  their  earliest  meetings,  and  which 
had  afterwards,  in  one  or  more  seasons  of  difficulty, 
induced  them  to  appoint  a  special  meeting  for  this 
object,  at  which  clergymen  of  that  city  were  invited 
to  conduct  the  exercises.  The  directors  had  ever 
regarded  their  enterprise  as  one  of  piety  and  Christian 
charity.  They  were  acting  for  the  benefit  of  persons 
whose  condition  of  intellectual  and  moral  darknesss 
excluded  them,  like  the  heathen,  from  the  hopes,  the 
consolations,  the  knowledge  even  of  Christianity,  and 
seeing  the  benign  influence  which  religious  truth  had 
already  exerted  upon  their  pupils,  they  gratefully  dedi- 
cated the  institution  to  Almighty  God. 

It  was  on  that  occasion  that  Mr.  Gallaudet  delivered 
the  following  appropriate  and  exceedingly  impressive 
discourse : 


REV.   TH03.   II.   GALLAUDET.  115 

DISCOURSE. 

"  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens." — 2  Cor.  v,  1. 

"The  faith  of  Paul  in  the  promises  of  God  was  an 
anchor  to  his  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  amid  all 
the  sorrows  and  troubles  of  life.  Experience  had 
taught  him  not  to  look  to  human  aid  for  support,  nor 
to  seek  repose  in  earthly  comforts ;  for  both,  he  well 
knew,  like  the  temporary  shelter  of  a  house,  might  fall 
beneath  the  arm  of  violence,  or  crumble  into  ruin  from 
the  natural  progress  of  decay.  He  felt  himself  a 
stranger  and  a  pilgrim  on  the  earth ;  his  home  was  in 
heaven,  rendered  sure  to  him  by  the  declaration  of  his 
divine  Master,  '  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man- 
sions, if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you  :  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.'  To  this  final  rest  from  all 
suffering  and  sin,  Paul  looked  forward  with  such  de- 
lightful anticipation,  that  even  his  affliction  appeared 
but  light  and  momentary,  and  he  considered  it  as  work- 
ing out  for  him  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory.  The  faith  which  enabled  him  to  do  this,  he 
thus  describes,  '  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which 
are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen :  for  the 
things  which  are  seen  are  temporal;  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.  For  we  know  that  if 
our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.' 

By  the  expression,  l  earthly  house  of  this  taberna- 
cle,' I  apprehend  the  apostle  intended  something  more 
than  the  mere  human  body,  and  referred  rather  to  our 


116  LIFE  AND   LABOKS   OF 

residence  in  this  world,  which,  from  its  transitoriness 
and  uncertainty,  might  well  be  compared  to  a  taberna- 
cle or  tent,  and  thus  be  fitly  contrasted  with  the  per- 
manency and  stability  of  the  heavenly  state.  Thus 
you  see  what  was  the  true  source  of  the  apostle's  con- 
solation under  affliction,  and  of  the  zeal  and  hope 
which  animated  him  in  the  midst  of  his  trials ;  he  re- 
garded things  temporal  as  he  would  the  accommoda- 
tions of  a  house,  which,  with  all  its  inconveniences 
and  comforts,  is  nevertheless  destined  to  inevitable  dis- 
solution ;  he  fixed  his  affections  on  things  eternal,  on 
his  home  in  the  heavens,  on  that  building  of  God, 
whose  foundation  is  sure,  whose  walls  are  imperisha- 
ble, and  the  beauty,  order,  and  magnificence  of  which 
infinitely  surpass  all  our  conceptions.  These  senti- 
ments of  the  apostle,  and  the  spirit  which  dictated 
them,  seem  to  me,  my  brethren,  peculiarly  suitable  for 
us  to  imbibe  on  the  present  occasion.  We  see  before  us 
a  little  group  of  our  fellow-beings,  who  are  called  in  the 
mysterious  providence  of  God  to  endure  affliction.  This 
affliction  may  become  comparatively  light  to  them,  and, 
as  it  were,  enduring  but  a  moment,  could  it  be  made 
instrumental  of  working  out  for  them  a  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  They  are  just 
introduced  into  an  earthly  house  well  calculated  for 
their  accommodation ;  but  it  becomes  both  them  and 
all  of  us,  who  feel  interested  in  their  welfare,  to  keep 
constantly  in  mind,  that  this  goodly  edifice,  with  its 
various  sources  of  instruction  and  improvement,  is  one 
of  the  things  which,  though  seen  perhaps  with  grateful 
satisfaction,  is  still  temporal,  the  worldly  advantages  of 
which  may  prove  uncertain  and  must  be  transitory, 
and  at  which,  therefore,  we  ought  not  to  look  with  any 


KEV.   THOS.   n.   GALLAUDET.  117 

sense  of  a  strong  and  undue  attachment,  but  rather, 
raise  the  eye  of  our  faith,  and  persuade  these  sufferers 
to  do  so  likewise,  to  a  better  home,  to  that  building  of 
God,  the  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  When  I  say  that  the  worldly  advantages  of 
this  Asylum  may  prove  uncertain,  do  not  understand 
me  as  wishing  to  disparage  their  true  importance  and 
value.  To  do  this  would  be  alike  unwise  and  ungrate- 
ful. It  would  be  unwise;  for  godliness  hath  the 
promise  of  this  life  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come, 
and  it  is  only  a  misguided  enthusiasm  which  can  aim  to 
prepare  youth  for  a  better  world,  without,  at  the  same 
time,  training  them  up  to  a  faithful  discharge  of  all 
their  duties  in  this.  It  would  be  ungrateful ;  for  every 
creature  of  God  is  good,  and  nothing  to  be  refused  if 
it  be  received  with  thanksgiving ;  and  we  might  as  well 
close  our  eyes  upon  the  budding  beauties  of  the  season, 
which  the  kind  Author  of  Nature  is  now  unfolding  to 
our  view,  as  to  shut  our  hearts  against  that  general 
aspect  of  convenience,  and  that  propect  of  future  com- 
fort to  the  deaf  and  dumb,  which  the  same  Giver  of 
every  good  and  perfect  gift,  deigns  to  shed  over  the 
establishment  which  we  wish  this  day  to  dedicate  to 
Him  who  has  thus  far  fostered  and  protected  it.  But 
the  brightest  hopes  of  spring  sometimes  fall  before  an 
untimely  frost,  and  human  establishments  of  the  fairest 
promise  have  often  been  so  perverted  from  their  original 
design  as  to  become  the  nurseries  of  error,  or  so  con- 
ducted in  their  progress  as  to  promote  the  views  of 
personal  interest,  or  so  decked  out  with  the  pomp  and 
circumstance  of  greatness,  as  to  serve  rather  for  the  or- 
naments with  which  ambition  would  love  to  decorate 
itself,  than  as  the  plain  and  useful  instruments  which  the 


118  LIFE   AND   LABOKS  OF 

hand  of  unostentatious  charity  would  employ  to  dispense 
her  simple  and  substantial  benefits  to  the  suffering  ob- 
jects of  her  care.  Believe  me,  these  are  the  rocks  on 
which  this  institution  may  be  shipwrecked.  Its  very 
prosperity  should  serve  as  the  beacon  of  its  danger. 

Many  of  you,  my  brethren,  recollect  when  your 
interest  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  was  first  excited  by  a 
single  individual  of  their  number,*  thus  afflicted,  as  it 
were,  by  Providence,  for  the  very  purpose  of  turning 
her  calamity  into  the  source  of  blessings  upon  her  fel- 
low-sufferers;  and  now,  when  about  six  years  only 
have  elapsed  since  she  was  regarded  as  almost  a  soli- 
tary instance  of  this  calamity  among  us,  I  see  her  in 
the  midst  of  a  considerable  circle  of  those  whom  she 
was  destined  to  relieve,  many  of  whom,  with  herself, 
have  already  completed  the  fourth  year  of  their  educa- 
tion, while  they  this  day  are  assembled  in  their  own 
house,  reared  by  the  charities  of  individuals,  and  the 
munificence  of  both,  state  and  national  bounty,  with 
means  of  comfort  and  instruction  far  surpassing  the 
most  sanguine  hopes  that  were  indulged  by  the  friends 
of  the  Asylum  at  its  commencement.  My  brethren, 
such  unexampled  prosperity  is  dangerous,  and  those  to 
whom  the  guardianship  of  this  institution  is  entrusted, 
will  do  well  to  watch  against  its  insinuating  effects. 

Man,  whether  in  his  collective  or  individual  capac- 
ity, is  a  fallen  and  degenerate  being.  He  is  always 
prone  to  look  at  the  things  which  are  seen  and  are  tem- 
poral, and  to  neglect  those  which  are  not  seen  and  are 
eternal.  And  this  explains  a  most  singular  problem 
of  human  nature.  You  will  find  individuals  whose 
hearts  overflow  with  all  the  charities  of  life — kind,  gen- 

*  Alice  Cogswell. 


KEY.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  119 

tie,  amiable,  honorable — willing  to  practice  almost  any 
self-denial  and  to  expend  almost  any  bounty,  in  the  fur- 
thering of  plans  for  the  relief  of  the  temporal  distress 
of  their  fellow-men.  And  they  will  erect  the  most 
princely  establishments  to  furnish  the  sickness  of  pov- 
erty with  a  couch  of  ease,  and  to  afford  the  wandering 
stranger  a  home,  and  to  soothe  the  sorrows  of  the 
widow  and  supply  the  wants  of  the  fatherless,  and  to 
control  or  mitigate  the  worst  of  all  human  evils,  the 
maddening  diseases  of  the  mind ;  and  yet  they  can  do 
all  this  and  think  nothing  of  the  souls  of  these  suffer- 
ers, make  little  or  no  provision  for  their  spiritual  neces- 
sities; and  while  everything  is  done  to  render  the 
earthly  house  of  their  tabernacle  convenient  and  com- 
fortable, they  are  not  warned  that  they  must  soon  leave 
it ;  they  are  not  urged  to  secure  a  residence  in  a  better 
home,  in  the  '  building  of  God,  the  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.'  In  saying  this,  far  be 
it  from  me  to  decry  the  offices  of  humanity ;  but  why 
not  blend  these  offices  with  the  nobler  charity  which 
the  Gospel  inspires  ?  While  men  will  lavish  all  the 
skill  and  experience  that  their  bounty  can  procure  to 
heal  the  diseases  of  the  body,  why  perform  only  half 
the  cure  ?  why  leave  the  patient  to  languish  under  a 
more  dreadful  malady,  the  corruption  of  a  depraved 
heart?  why  not  take  advantage  of  the  composure  and 
self-reflection,  which  his  very  hour  of  bodily  suffering 
brings  with  it,  to  soothe  the  pangs  of  his  conscience,  to 
allay  the  torments  of  remorse,  to  ease  him  from  the 
burden  of  sin,  to  refresh  his  parched  soul  with  the  well- 
spring  of  eternal  life,  to  point  him  to  that  Physician  in 
whose  gift  is  immortal  health  and  vigor?  My  brethren, 
look  at  this  fact ;  it  is  to  be  found  on  the  pages  of  all 


120  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OP 

the  histories  of  mere  philanthropy,  and  shows  the  danger 
to  which  all  establishments  of  benevolence  are  exposed. 
Forgive  me,  then,  for  dwelling  on  this  perhaps  unwel- 
come topic.  But  I  do  feel  that  the  solemnities  of  this 
day,  if  they  have  any  meaning,  call  upon  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  establishment,  to  keep 
steadily  in  view  its  simple,  original  design,  that  of 
making  it  the  gate  to  heaven,  for  these  poor  lambs  of 
the  flock ;  for,  without  such  means  of  instruction,  they 
must  continue  to  sit  in  darkness,  and  in  the  region  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  ignorant  of  the  immortality  of  their 
souls,  of  their  accountability  to  God,  of  their  future 
state  of  being,  of  the  destinies  which  await  them,  of 
the  corruption  of  their  own  hearts,  of  the  necessity  of 
repentance  toward  God,  and  of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  the  influence  of  that  Holy  Comforter, 
which  can  alone  renew  them  in  the  temper  of  their 
minds,  and  prepare  them  for  the  inheritance  which  is 
incorruptible,  undetlled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away. 

Besides,  by  thus  making  the  spiritual  benefits  of 
the  institution  paramount  to  all  others,  its  temporal 
advantages  will  be  best  secured.  For  the  former 
afford  the  surest  foundation  of  the  latter.  If  it  is 
thus  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  to  the  build- 
ing up  of  his  kingdom  among  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
such  a  feeling  of  dependence  on  God,  of  accountability 
to  him,  and  of  reliance  on  his  providential  support, 
will  be  produced  among  those  who  manage  its  conceras, 
as  to  give  the  most  consistency,  energy  and  success 
to  all  their  measures  and  operations  for  its  welfare. 
It  will  then  be  placed,  if  I  may  so  speak,  under  the 
more  immediate  protection  of  the  Savior,  it  becomes 
entitled  to  his  covenant  promises,  it  forms  a  depart- 


REV.    THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  121 

ment  of  his  vast  and  increasing  empire  in  this  lower 
world,  and  he  stands  pledged  to  overshadow  it  with 
the  arm  of  his  mighty  and  irresistible  protection. 

Again,  by  devoting  this  institution  to  the  cause 
of  Christ,  the  moral  influence  of  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel  will  have  an  important  and  salutary  effect 
even  upon  its  purely  intellectual  and  temporal  de- 
partments, and  the  government  of  the  pupils.  Truth 
is  often  said  to  be  omnipotent.  It  is  the  instrument 
which  the  Father  of  spirits  employs  to  enlighten  the 
minds  and  purify  the  hearts  of  his  intelligent  creatures. 
But  truth  is  one,  and  there  is  probably  a  real  con- 
nection between  all  kinds  of  truth,  both  human  and 
divine ;  for  the  Author  of  those  operations  of  nature 
which  furnish  the  data  from  which  physical  truths 
are  derived,  and  of  those  dispensations  of  providence 
and  grace  from  which  moral  and  religious  truths  are 
derived,  is  one  and  the  same  Almighty  Being,  direct- 
ing and  controlling  the  vast  movements  of  his  power 
and  the  mysterious  processes  of  his  wisdom,  and  the 
inflexible  dispensations  of  his  justice,  and  the  en- 
gaging displays  of  his  goodness,  upon  one  harmonious 
plan,  all  tending  to  one  result,  the  brightest  illustra- 
tion of  his  glory,  and  the  best  good  of  all  who  love 
and  serve  him.  Now  in  this  plan,  moral  truth  holds 
a  higher  rank  than  intellectual,  and  has  a  nobler 
influence  on  the  mind ;  and  I  apprehend  that  the 
youth  whose  understanding  is  early  opened  to  the 
reception  and  influence  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel 
in  all  their  beauty  and  simplicity,  will  make  the 
fairest  and  most  rapid  progress,  even  in  his  attainment 
of  merely  human  knowledge.  Sin  darkens  the  un- 
derstanding as  well  as  debases  the  heart.  Had  man 
6 


122  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

remained  in  his  primeval  state  of  innocence,  probably 
much  of  that  very  obscurity  which  attends  the  re- 
searches that  philosophy  has  been  attempting  to  make, 
for  ages,  in  the  discovery  of  physical  truth,  and  which 
has  been  attributed  simply  to  the  limited  powers 
of  the  human  faculties,  in  this  imperfect  state  of 
being,  would  never  have  existed,  and  much  that 
now  appears  mysterious,  would  then  have  been  clear. 
But  there  is  a  view  of  this  subject  somewhat  more 
practical,  which  gives  it,  if  not  a  more  elevated,  at 
least,  a  more  heart-felt  interest,  flow  much  of  the 
successful  education  of  youth  in  any  department  of 
knowledge  depends  upon  the  docility  of  the  pupil, 
and  on  the  influence  which  the  instructor  has  over 
him !  How  is  this  docility  best  to  be  cultivated  ? 
How  is  this  influence  to  be  maintained,  so  as  to  com- 
bine respect  with  love?  No  precepts  like  those 
of  the  Gospel  diffuse  over  the  opening  character  that 
tender  ingenuousness  of  feeling  which  is  so  lovely 
in  y outh :  it  is  like  the  dew  of  heaven,  whose  mild 
luster  sheds  a  fresher  charm  over  the  budding  flower, 
refreshes  its  infancy,  and  nurtures  its  growth  into 
all  the  fullness  of  its  maturer  beauties.  The  faculties 
of  the  child  expand  in  their  most  desirable  form^ 
nay,  its  very  acquisitions  of  knowledge  are  most 
rapid,  when  the  affections  of  its  heart  are  properly 
cultivated,  and  they  cannot  be  so  without  making- 
use  of  the  doctrines,  and  precepts,  and  example  of 
that  Savior,  who  was  the  friend  of  the  young  and 
helpless.  Education,  could  it  be  conducted  upon  strictly 
Gospel  principles,  would  soon  prove  by  actual  ex- 
periment, that  the  influence,  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  fact,  elevates  and  ennobles  all  the  powers 


REV.    Til  OS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  123 

of  the  understanding,  while  it  purifies  and  hallows 
all  the  affections  of  the  heart.  And,  in  the  same  way- 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  that  if  it  is  to  be  one 
of  the  leading  objects  of  this  institution  to  form  its 
pupils  to  those  habits  of  useful  employment,  which 
will  qualify  them  to  contribute  to  their  own  future 
support,  and  to  prepare  them  to  sustain  the  various 
relations,  and  discharge  the  various  duties  of  life  with 
credit  to  themselves  and  comfort  to  their  friends,  that 
this  is  best  to  be  accomplished,  by  leading  them  to 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
and  then  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  them. 
I  have  been  led  to  these  reflections,  my  brethren,  from 
considering  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  real  nature 
of  the  occasion  Avhich  has  brought  us  together.  It  is 
to  dedicate  this  Asylum  to  Almighty  God.  It  is  not 
merely  to  consecrate  the  building,  or  any  particular 
part  of  it,  to  the  services  and  ceremonies  of  religious 
worship,  although  we  indulge  the  hope  that  this  will 
form  an  important  feature  of  the  establishment,  and 
give  the  pupils  the  opportunity  of  enjoying  this  privi- 
lege in  a  manner  adapted  to  their  peculiar  situation. 
But  we  rather  assemble  here  to  dedicate  the  whole 
institution,  in  all  its  departments  and  with  all  its 
benefits,  to  the  service  and  honor  of  Him  who  has  so 
kindly  reared  and  cherished  it,  and  to  invoke  his 
blessing  and  protection  upon  it. 

On  such  an  occasion,  so  solemn  and  so  interesting, 
it  is  becoming,  it  is  safe,  nay,  we  are  under  the  strongest 
obligations,  to  render  this  whole  institution  into  the 
hands  of  Him,  who  retains  a  property  in  every  gift 
which  he  bestows  upon  us,  and  under  whose  direction, 
and  by  the  guidance  of  whose  precepts,  we  can  best 


124  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF 

secure  and  enjoy  all  our  blessings.  Hence  I  have  en- 
deavored in  this  discourse  to  show,  that  it  is  both  the 
duty  and  interest  of  those  to  whom  the  guardianship 
of  this  Asylum  is  entrusted,  to  keep  its  original  and 
leading  design  steadily  in  view,  to  make  the  religious 
welfare  of  the  pupils  its  great  object,  arid  to  conduct 
all  its  other  departments,  not  upon  worldly  or  merely 
humane  principles,  but  under  the  wholesome  laws  and 
maxims  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Savior.  Let  us,  then, 
my  brethren,  all  of  us  who  expect  to  be  engaged  in  its 
affairs;  or  who  are  interested  in  its  prosperity,  now, 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  and  with  a  humble 
reliance  on  his  aid,  proceed  to  dedicate  this  Asylum, 
in  all  its  departments,  and  with  all  its  interests  and 
concerns,  to  the  service  of  the  Father  of  Mercies,  to 
the  honor  of  the  Redeemer's  name,  the  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter ;  invoking  the  continuance 
of  the  Divine  blessing  upon  it,  that  it  may  prove  a 
rich,  a  lasting,  an  eternal  benefit  to  the  suffering 
objects  of  its  care. 

Thus  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner 
stone,  it  will  be  established  on  the  Rock  of  Ages ;  and 
when  these  walls  which  the  hands  of  man  have  erected, 
shall  have  mouldered  into  ruin  ;  when  nothing  but  the 
winds  of  heaven  shall  sigh  in  melancholy  murmur 
through  the  desolation  of  these  goodly  scenes  which 
surround  and  embellish  it ;  when  the  last  memorials  of 
its  founders  and  patrons  and  friends,  the  lonely  tomb- 
stones of  their  grass-grown  graves,  shall  have  crumbled 
into  dust  and  ceased  to  preserve  even  their  very  names 
from  oblivion;  when  its  present  and  future  inhabi- 
tants, the  cherished  objects  of  its  care,  shall  have  left,  one 


REV.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  125 

after  another,  this  earthly  house  of  their  tabernacle ;  we 
will  indulge  the  delightful  hope,  that  it  will  have 
proved  to  each  of  them,  the  preparatory  entrance, 
the  outer  court,  of  the  building  of  God,  the  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  And 
that  this  may  prove  the  happy  lot  both  of  them,  and 
of  all  who  now  surround  them  and  show  this  interest 
in  their  welfare,  may  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  grant. 
Amen." 

DEDICATORY  PRAYER. 

"  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  grace  and 
consolation,  enable  us,  at  this  time,  to  raise  unto  thee 
the  united  desires  of  our  hearts,  in  behalf  of  those 
whose  necessities  thou  hast  not  forgotten,  and  whom 
thou  hast  visited,  in  their  calamity,  with  the  kindest 
tokens  of  thy  regard.  We  would  reverently  admire 
the  overflowing  abundance  of  thy  bounty,  and  the 
countless  ways  in  which  thou  dispensest  thy  gifts 
to  the  sinful  and  suffering  children  of  men.  We  thank 
thee,  for  all  that  thou  hast  done,  both  in  this  and  other 
parts  of  the  world,  to  succor  those  who  are  deaf  and 
dumb,  and  we  do  beseech  thee  to  bless  them,  and  the 
institutions  which  cherish  them,  with  the  kindness 
of  thy  paternal  care,  with  the  light  of  thy  Gospel,  and 
Avith  the  dew  of  thy  grace.  Especially  would  we 
acknowledge,  with  humble  and  devout  gratitude,  all 
the  manifestations  of  thy  goodness  toward  the  Asylum 
established  in  this  place.  By  the  wonderful  workings 
of  thy  providence,  thou  didst  direct  the  attention  of 
the  benevolent  to  these  children  of  suffering ;  thou 
didst  prepare  and  open  the  way  for  their  relief;  thou 
didst  move  the  hand  of  charity  to  supply  their  wants  ; 


126  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

thou  didst  provide  the  means  of  their  instruction ; 
thou  didst  touch  the  hearts  of  the  wise  and  honorable, 
and  the  rulers  of  the  land,  with  compassion  toward 
them;  and  now,  to  crown  all  thy  other  gifts,  thou 
hast  gathered  them,  as  it  were,  beneath  the  shadow 
of  thy  wings,  into  this  their  own  dwelling,  in  which 
we  humbly  hope,  both  they  and  many  of  their  fellow- 
sufferers  will  be  made  partakers  of  still  greater  and 
richer  blessings.  In  all  these  things,  we  desire,  O 
God,  to  see,  to  acknowledge,  and  to  adore  the  hand 
of  thy  power,  and  the  riches  of  thy  bounty.  '  Not  unto 
us,  O  Lord !  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name,  be  all 
the  praise  and  all  the  glory.'  And  now,  0  Lord ! 
what  shall  we  render  unto  thee  for  all  these  thy 
benefits?  We  can  only  give  back  to  thee  what  thou 
hast  already  given.  Wilt  thou,  then,  enable  us,  by 
the  aid  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  intercession 
of  thy  Son,  and  with  faith  in  him,  at  this  time,  most 
solemnly  to  dedicate  this  Asylum  to  th}rself. 

Almighty  and  most  merciful  God,  in  behalf  of 
those  whom  thou  hast  called,  in  thy  providence,  to 
direct  and  govern  the  concerns  of  this  Asylum,  we 
do  now  dedicate  the  whole  institution  to  thee ;  to 
thee,  in  all  its  departments  of  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  instruction ;  to  thee,  in  all  its  privileges  of 
worship,  prayer,  and  praise  ;  to  thee,  in  all  its  domestic 
regulations,  and  various  means  of  comfort  and  useful- 
ness ;  to  thee,  with  all  its  benefits  both  spiritual  and 
temporal :  beseeching  thee  to  accept  the  offering,  and 
to  make  it  subservient  to  the  promotion  of  thy  glory, 
to  the  honor  of  thy  son  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  build- 
ing up  of  his  kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  have 
been,  who  now  are,  or  who    may  be,  the  objects  of 


REV.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  127 

its  care.  0,  thou  Father  of  Mercies,  take  now,  we 
beseech  thee,  this  Asylum,  with  all  its  interests,  under 
thy  future  protection.  Defend  it  from  every  danger 
by  thy  Almighty  arm.  Give  it  all  salutary  favor  in 
the  sight  of  our  fellow-men.  Excite  the  prayers  of 
thy  own  children  in  its  behalf.  Shed  down  upon  all 
who  are  intrusted  with  the  direction  and  management 
of  its  concerns,  in  their  several  stations,  and  in  the 
discharge  of  their  respective  duties,  a  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  prudence,  of  patience  and  kindness,  of  fidelity  and 
industry;  so  that  all  things  being  conducted  in  thy 
fear,  may  meet  with  thy  blessing,  and  result  both  in 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  good  of  those  who  resort 
hither  for  instruction.  May  the  pupils  ever  be  taught 
the  truths  of  thy  Gospel,  in  all  their  affecting  simplicity 
and  force.  May  the  friend  of  the  wretched,  the 
Savior  of  sinners,  the  Son  of  thy  love,  here  abun- 
dantly display  the  riches  of  his  grace,  in  gathering 
these  lambs  of  the  flock  into  his  own  fold,  and  in 
making  them  meet  for  an  entrance  into  the  spiritual 
land  of  promise,  the  Canaan  of  eternal  rest. 

We  would  also  remember  before  thee,  0,  thou 
hope  of  the  afflicted  !  the  many  deaf  and  dumb  in  this 
and  other  lands,  who  are  still  enveloped  in  the  midnight 
of  intellectual  and  moral  darkness :  we  beseech  thee, 
in  thine  abundant  goodness,  to  make  provision  for 
their  relief,  and  to  cause,  that  while  the  consolations 
of  thy  Gospel  are  extending  to  almost  every  corner 
of  the  earth,  these  helpless  ones  may  not  be  forgotten 
by  their  fellow-men. 

In  imploring  these  blessings,  Almighty  God,  we 
humbly  confess  that  we  are  most  unworthy  to  receive 
them.     For  we  are  sinners  in  thy  sight,  and,  if  thou 


128  LIFE  AND   LABORS    OF 

shouldest  be  strict  to  mark  our  iniquities,  we  could 
not  stand  before  thee.  We  would  look  to  Jesus  Christ 
alone  and  to  his  righteousness,  for  acceptance  with 
thee.  0,  for  his  sake,  wilt  thou  hear  us,  and  grant 
us  an  answer  of  peace.  And  to  the  Father,  to  the  Son, 
and  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  rendered  everlasting 
praises.     Amen." 

In  the  autumn  of  1818,  the  Asylum  contained  be- 
tween fifty  and  sixty  pupils.  As  the  salaries  of  the 
teachers,  and  other  expenses  of  the  school,  very  much 
exceeded  the  income  from  tuition,  it  became  necessary 
to  make  frequent  applications  for  charitable  aid ;  and 
as  this  support  could  not  be  permanently  relied  upon, 
it  was  resolved  to  petition  Congress  for  a  grant  of 
money,  or  of  land  from  the  public  domain.  In  this 
petition  it  was  urged,  that  the  Institution  was  disposed 
to  extend  its  benefits  to  all  parts  of  the  Union ;  that 
it  had  already  received  pupils  from  ten  different  Stales ; 
that  one  such  school,  well  endowed,  would  probably 
be  sufficient,  during  a  long  period ;  and  that,  if  in 
process  of  time,  others  should  arise,  they  might  be 
furnished  with  well-trained  teachers  from  the  mother 
institution,  which  would  be  an  essential  advantage. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  the  directors,  on 
the  25th  of  January,  1819,  voted  that  the  Hon. 
Nathaniel  Terry  and  the  Hon.  Thomas  Williams,  be 
authorized  to  present  a  petition  to  Congress,  praying 
for  a  grant  of  money  or  land,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Asylum.  The  petition  being  promptly  drawn  up 
and  presented,  and  being  warmly  advocated  by  the 
Connecticut  delegation,  and  by  many  other  influential 
and  philanthropic  members  of  both  houses  of  Con- 


REV.   TITOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  129 

gress,  prominent  among  whom  was  Henry  Clay,  then 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  grant  of 
twenty-three  thousand  acres  of  land  was  obtained,  the 
avails  of  which  have  constituted  a  noble  fund,  and 
have  already  conferred  incalculable  blessings  upon  the 
unfortunate  objects  of  its  beneficence.  Between  the 
years  1825  and  1830,  the  number  of  pupils  increased 
from  seventy,  to  one  hundred  and  forty.  Thus  the 
prosperity  of  the  Asylum,  the  evidence  of  public 
confidence  in  its  character,  and  of  general  satisfaction 
with  its  results,  were  sources  of  high  gratification  to 
its  friends. 

While  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  struggling  with  precarious 
health,  in  the  midst  of  his  arduous  daily  labors  with 
the  classes  in  the  Asylum,  his  active  and  benevolent 
mind  was  continually  contriving  ways  and  means  for 
drawing  public  attention  to  the  school,  and  extending 
its  privileges  to  as  many  as  possible  of  that  unfortu- 
nate class  of  pupils,  for  whose  sole  benefit  it  was  estab- 
lished. It  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  how  great  a 
draft  teaching  by  signs,  year  in  and  year  out,  must 
make  upon  the  physical  system  and  the  inventive 
faculties  of  the  instructor.  How,  besides  being  in  the 
school-room  six  hours  in  a  day,  can  he  have  strength 
or  heart  for  outside  plans  and  labors,  such  as  de- 
volved upon  Mr.  Grallaudet,  as  the  first  pioneer  in  this 
difficult  system  of  education  ?  But  such  was  the  ardor 
with  which  he  devoted  all  his  strength,  and  more,  to 
the  new  enterprise,  that  in  his  vacations,  he  allowed 
himself  very  little  rest.  Taking  some  of  his  pupils 
along  with  him,  for  such  exhibitions  as  were  demanded 
to  secure  general  confidence  in  the  practicability  of,  as 
it  were,  unstopping  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  of  pouring 
6* 


130  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

the  lights  of  learning  and  religion  into  their  dark 
minds,  and  "causing  their  hearts  to  sing  for  joy,"  he 
visited  most  of  the  principal  towns  in  New  England. 
When  his  exhausted  energies  required  repose,  he 
would  not  spare  himself,  lest  the  great  experiment 
should  fail  for  want  of  the  last  effort  he  could  make ; 
though  he  was  conscious,  almost  from  the  beginning, 
that  this  overwork  was  undermining  his  constitution, 
and  threatened  to  bring  him  to  an  early  grave. 

Besides  much  other  work  abroad,  of  which  he  kept 
no  account,  in  the  spring  or  autumn  of  1825,  he  pre- 
pared and  delivered  the  discourse  upon  the  duty  and 
advantages  of  affording  instruction  to  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  at  Burlington,  Montpelier,  Portland,  Concord, 
and  I  believe  some  other  places,  which  told  power- 
fully upon  the  sympathies  and  cooperation  of  the 
hearers.  The  sermon  was  published  soon  after,  and 
cannot,  with  justice,  be  withheld  from  the  readers  of 
this  too  tardy  memoir. 

SERMON. 

u  '  But  as  it  is  writen,  to  whom  he  was  not  spoken  of  they  shall  see  ; 
and  they  that  have  not  heard,  shall  understand.'     Romans  xv.  21. 

"Prophecy  inspires  the  Christian  with  courage  in 
the  cause  of  his  Divine  Master.  Its  accomplishment 
assures  him  that  the  Lord  is  on  his  side. 

The  former  is  like  the  dawning  of  an  effulgent  morn 
on  the  eye  of  the  indefatigable  traveler,  cheering  him 
with  the  promise  of  alacrity  and  vigor  on  his  way. 
The  latter  is  the  full-orbed  splendor  of  the  noonday 
sun,  illuminating  the  region  he  has  left,  and  yielding 
him  a  bright  retrospect  of  the  course  which  has  thus  far 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GAT.LAUDET.  131 

brought  him  so  successfully  ou  his  pilgrimage.  Such  a 
resolution  animated,  such  a  hope  gladdened,  the  breast 
of  Paul,  the  faithful,  the  intrepid  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ.  He  was  sent  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles.  He 
took  courage  from  the  declarations  of  prophecy.  He 
witnessed  its  accomplishment ;  and  this  furnished  him 
with  abundant  support  and  consolation  in  his  laborious 
and  perilous  service. 

'For  I  will  not  dare  to  speak,'  says  he,  'of  any  of 
those  things  which  Christ  hath  not  wrought  by  me,  to 

make  the  Gentiles  obedient  by  word  and  deed 

Yen,  so  I  have  strived  to  preach,  not  where  Christ  was 
named,  lest  I  should  build  upon  another  man's  found- 
ation :  but,  as  it  is  written,  To  wrhom  he  was  not 
spoken  of,  they  shall  see  ;  and  they  that  have  not 
heard,  shall  understand.' 

While  contemplating  this  generous  ardor  of  the 
apostle,  let  us  consider  his  example  most  worthy  of  the 
imitation  of  us  all.  And  would  to  God,  my  brethren, 
that  his  spirit  were  transfused  into  the  breasts  of  all 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ;  for  never,  perhaps,  in 
any  period  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  has  she 
stretched  forth  her  hands  with  more  eagerness  of  sup- 
plication, for  the  undaunted  and  vigorous  exertions,  in 
her  behalf,  of  all  who  delight  in  her  prosperity. 

Now  her  walls  begin  to  rise,  and  her  towers  to  lift 
their  heads  toward  the  heaven ;  for  many  have  come  up 
to  her  help.  Let  not  our  hands  refuse  their  labor  in 
so  glorious  a  work ;  for  soon  she  shall  shine  forth  in 
all  the  strength  and  splendor  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
becoming  the  joy  and  the  praise  of  the  whole  earth. 

Paul  toiled  for  her  prosperity.  The  Gentiles 
arrested  his  attention  and  shared   his  labors.     And 


132  LIFE   AND    LA  BOP, S   OF 

his  labors  derived  fresh  vigor  from  the  declarations 
and  accomplishment  of  prophecy. 

If  we,  my  brethren,  have  the  spirit  of  Paul,  the 
heathen  of  our  day  will  not  be  neglected  by  us ;  and 
prophecy  will  become  to  us,  also,  an  abundant  source 
of  encouragement,  that  we  shall  not  spend  our  strength 
among  them  for  naught.  These  two  simple  truths 
form  the  whole  plan  of  my  discourse. 

But  who  are  the  heathen  f  My  heart  sinks  within 
me  while  giving  the  reply.  Millions,  millions  of  your 
fellow-men.  Europe,  Asia,  Africa  and  America  con- 
tain a  melancholy  host  of  immortal  souls  who  are  still 
enveloped  with  the  midnight  gloom  of  ignorance  and 
superstition. 

They  who  adore  the  idol  which  their  own  hands 
have  formed ;  who  worship  the  orbs  of  heaven  ;  who 
sacrifice  their  own  flesh  to  a  vindictive  deity;  who 
bathe  in  the  stream,  or  who  pass  through  the  fire,  to 
purify  themselves  from  sin  ;  who  hope  to  gain  paradise 
by  practicing  the  most  cruel  bodily  austerities ;  who 
bid  the  widow  burn  on  the  funeral  pile  of  her  deceased 
husband,  while  her  own  offspring  lights  its  flames ; 
who  sing  their  profane  incantations,  and  revel  in  brut- 
ish madness  during  their  nightly  orgies,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  some  miserable  wretch,  claiming  the  Name  of 
wizard  or  magician ;  who  never  heard  of  that  name, 
the  only  one  given  under  heaven  by  which  man  can 
be  saved.     These  are  some  of  the  heathen. 

Who  are  the  heathen?  I  direct  your  observation 
nearer  home.  I  point  you  to  thousands  within  your 
own  country,  and  villages,  and  towns,  and  cities,  who 
have  grown  up,  in  this  favored  land,  without  any  cor- 
rect knowledge  of  the  God  who  made  them ;  of  the 


REV.    TTTOP.    H.    GALLAUDET.  133 

Savior  who  died  to  redeem  all  who  trust  in  Him ;  of 
the  Spirit  which  is  given  to  sanctify  the  heart ;  of  the 
Book  of  Eternal  Life,  which  unfolds  to  us  all  that  can 
alarm  our  fears  or  animate  our  hopes  with  regard  to  a 
future  world.     These  are  some  of  the  heathen. 

But  are  there  still  other  heathen?  Yes,  my  brethren, 
and  I  present  them  to  the  eye  of  your  pity,  an  interest- 
ing, an  affecting  group  of  your  fellow-men ;  of  those 
who  are  bone  of  your  bone  and  flesh  of  your  flesh ; 
who  live  encircled  with  all  that  can  render  life  desirable ; 
in  the  midst  of  society,  of  knowledge,  of  the  arts,  of 
the  sciences,  of  a  free  and  happy  government,  of  a 
widely  preached  Gospel ;  and  yet  who  know  nothing 
of  all  these  blessings  ;  who  regard  them  with  amaze- 
ment and  a  trembling  concern ;  who  are  lost  in  one  per- 
petual gaze  of  wonder  at  the  thousand  mysteries  which 
surround  them ;  who  consider  many  of  our  most  simple 
customs  as  perplexing  enigmas ;  who  often  make  the 
most  absurd  conjectures  respecting  the  weighty  tran- 
sactions of  civil  society,  or  the  august  and  solemn  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  religion ;  who  propose  a  thousand 
inquiries  which  cannot  be  answered,  and  pant  for  a 
deliverance  which  has  not  yet  been  afforded  them. 

These  are  some  of  the  heathen;  long-neglected 
heathen ;  the  poor  deaf  and  dumb,  whose  sad  neces- 
sities have  been  forgotten,  while  scarce  a  corner  of  the 
world  has  not  been  searched  to  find  those  who  are  yet 
ignorant  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Has  the  tear  of  pity  bedewed  your  cheek,  while 
perusing  the  terrific  history  of  Juggernaut,  rolling 
with  infernal  pomp  his  blood-stained  car  over  the  ex- 
piring victims  of  a  superstition  which  surpasses  all 
others  in  its  impure  and  cruel  rites  ?     Do  you  sympa- 


134  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

tliize  with,  tlie  missionary  who  has  taken  his  life  in  his 
hand  and  has  gone  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  cross 
against  those  powers  of  darkness  ?  Do  you  contribute 
your  alms,  and  offer  up  your  prayers,  for  the  success  of 
the  enterprise  in  which  he  has  embarked  ? 

Do  you  greet  with  the  smile  of  welcome,  and  the 
kindest  offices  of  friendship,  the  savage  islanders  whom 
providence  has  cast  upon  our  shores?  Do  }^ou  provide 
for  their  wants,  and  dispel,  by  the  beams  of  Gospel 
truth,  the  thick  darkness  which  has,  heretofore,  shroud- 
ed their  understandings?  Do  you  make  them  ac- 
quainted with  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  open  to  them 
the  prospect,  through  his  merits,  of  a  bright  and  happy 
immortality  ? 

May  the  Lord  reward  you  abundantly  for  these 
labors  of  love.  Prosecute  with  still  more  ardor  such 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  Fan  this  missionary 
flame,  until  it  shall  burn  in  every  Christian  breast,  and 
warm  and  invigorate  the  thousands  whose  bosoms 
glow  with  united  zeal  to  diffuse  the  '  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  as  it  shines  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ,'  to  those  who  still  sit  in  the  vast  and 
remote  regions  of  the  shadow  of  death. 

Far  be  it  from  my  purpose  to  divert  your  charities 
from  so  noble  an  object.  Palsied  be  the  hand  that 
attempts  to  build  up  one  part  of  the  walls  of  the  spir- 
itual Jerusalem  by  prostrating  another  in  ruins.  I 
would  not  draw  forth  your  sympathy  in  behalf  of  one 
project  of  benevolence  by  decrying  others.  I  will  not 
impeach  the  sincerity  of  your  exertions  to  enlarge  the 
extent  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  throughout  the 
world,  by  telling  you  that  charity  begins  at  home ; 
that  we  have  heathen  enough  in  our  own  land ;  that 


IiKV.    Til' OS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  135 

we  had  better  give  the  Gospel  to  our  own  countrymen, 
before  we  exhaust  our  resources  upon  those  whom  an 
ocean  divides  from  us. 

No,  my  brethren,  I  hold  a  very  different  language. 
I  only  put  in  a  claim  for  one  portion  of  the  heathen.  I 
only  ask  that  the  same  stream  of  diffusive  benevolence, 
which,  fed  by  a  thousand  springs  of  private  liberality, 
is  rolling  its  mighty  and  fertilizing  tide  over  the  dreary 
deserts  of  ignorance  and  superstition  and  sin  that  lie  in 
the  other  hemisphere,  may  afford  one  small  rivulet  to 
refresh  and  cheer  a  little  barren  spot  in  our  native  land, 
which  has  lain  hitherto  forgotten,  thirsty,  desolate.  I 
only  crave  a  cup  of  consolation,  for  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
from  the  same  fountain  at  which  the  Hindoo,  the  Afri- 
can, and  the  savage  are  beginning  to  draw  the  water 
of  eternal  life. 

Do  you  inquire  if  the  deaf  and  dumb  truly  deserve 
to  be  ranked  among  the  heathen?  With  regard  to 
their  vices  they  surely  do  not ;  for  a  kind  Providence, 
who  always  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lambs  of 
the  flock,  has  given  to  the  condition  of  these  unfortun- 
ates many  benefits.  Possessing  indeed  the  general 
traits  of  our  common  fallen  nature,  and  subject  to  the 
same  irregular  propensities  and  desires  which  mark 
the  depraved  character  of  man,  they  have,  nevertheless, 
been  defended,  by  the  very  imprisonment  of  their 
minds,  against  much  of  the  contagion  of  bad  example ; 
against  the  scandal,  the  abuse,  the  falsehood,  the  pro- 
fanity, and  the  blasphemy,  which  their  ears  cannot 
hear,  nor  their  tongues  utter.  Cruel  is  that  hand  which 
would  lead  them  into  the  paths  of  sin ;  base,  beyond 
description,  that  wretch  who  would  seduce  them,  by 
his  guileful  arts,  into  the  haunts  of  guilt  and  ruin. 


136  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF« 

Thus,  they  have  been  kept,  by  the  restraining  grace 
of  God,  from  much  of  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world. 

Yet  they  need  the  same  grace,  as  all  of  us  need 
it,  to  enlighten  the  dark  places  of  their  understand- 
ings, and  to  mould  their  heart  into  a  conformity  to 
the  Divine  image ;  they  require,  too,  an  interest  in  that 
Savior  who  was  lifted  up,  that  he  might  draw  all  men 
unto  him. 

I  tread  not  upon  dangerous  ground,  when  I  lay 
down  this  position ;  that  if  it  is  our  duty  to  instil 
divine  truth  into  the  minds  of  children  as  soon  as  they 
are  able  to  receive  it ;  if  we  are  bound  by  the  injunc- 
tion of  Christ  to  convey  the  glad  news  of  salvation  to 
every  creature  under  heaven;  then  we  fail  to  obey 
this  injunction,  if  we  neglect  to  make  his  name  known 
to  the  poor  deaf  and  dumb. 

I  have  said  that  they  are  heathen.  Truly  they  are 
so  as  it  regards  their  knowledge  of  religious  truth. 
The  experience  of  more  than  seven  years'  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  some  of  the  most  intelligent  among 
them,  has  fully  satisfied  my  mind,  that,  without  in- 
struction, they  must  inevitably  remain  ignorant  of  the 
most  simple  truths,  even  of  what  is  termed  natural 
religion,  and  of  all  those  doctrines  of  revealed  religion, 
which  must  be  the  foundation  of  our  hopes  with 
regard  to  our  eternal  destiny. 

I  have  seen  the  affecting  spectacle  of  an  immortal 
spirit,  exhibiting  the  possession  of  every  energy  of 
thought  and  feeling  which  mark  the  most  exalted  of 
our  species ;  inhabiting  a  body  arrived  to  its  age  of 
full  and  blooming  maturity ;  speaking  through  an  eye, 
whose  piercing  luster  beamed  with  intelligence  and 
sparkled  with  joy  at  the  acquisition  of  a  single  new 


REV.    THOS.    IT     GALLAUDET.  137 

idea :     I  have  seen  such  a  spirit  —  oh,  it  was  a  melan- 
choly sight  —  earnestly  contemplate 

1  the  boundless  store 


Of  charms  which  Nature  to  her  votary  yields  ; 

The  warbling  woodland  ;  the  resounding  shore 
The  pomp  of  groves  and  garniture  of  fields  ; 
All  that  the  genial  ray  of  morning  gilds ; 

And  all  that  echoes  to  the  song  of  even  ; 
All  that  the  mountain's  sheltering  bosom  shields  ; 

And  all  the  dread  magnificence  of  heaven.' 

I  have  asked  such  a  one,  after  a  few  glimmerings 
of  truth  had  begun  to  dissipate  the  mental  darkness  in 
which  it  had  been  shrouded,  what  were  its  meditations 
at  the  sight  of  a  friend  on  whom  death  had  laid  his  icy 
hand,  and  whom  the  grave  was  about  to  receive  into 
its  cold  and  silent  mansions.  '  I  thought  I  saw,'  was 
the  reply,  '  the  termination  of  being ;  the  destruction 
of  all  that  constituted  man.  I  had  no  notion  of  any 
existence  beyond  the  grave.  I  knew  not  that  there 
was  a  God  who  created  and  governs  the  world.  I  felt 
no  accountability  to  him.  My  whole  soul  was  en- 
grossed with  the  gratification  of  my  sensual  appetites ; 
with  the  decorations  of  dress ;  the  amusements  of  pleas- 
ure ;  or  the  anticipations  of  accumulating  wealth,  and 
living  in  gayety  and  splendor.' 

I  have  seen — it  was  a  vision  of  delight — the  same 
spirit,  when  it  first  received  the  notion  of  the  Great 
Creator  of  the  universe.  I  dare  not  attempt  to  describe 
its  emotions  at  such  an  interesting  moment.  For  I  be- 
lieve, my  brethren,  it  is  impossible  for  us,  who  have 
grown  up  in  the  midst  of  a  Christian  people,  and  who 
were  taught  in  our  tenderest  years  the  being  and  attri- 


138  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

butes  of  God,  to  form  any  just  estimate  of  the  astonish- 
ment, the  awe,  and  the  delight,  which  the  first  concep- 
tion of  an  invisible,  immaterial,  omnipotent,  omniscient, 
and  infinitely  wise,  just,  benevolent,  and  holy  Being, 
is  calculated  to  inspire,  when  it  breaks  in  upon  a  mind 
that,  in  the  range  of  all  its  former  thoughts,  had  never 
once  conjectured  that  there  was  a  Maker  of  this  visible 
creation. 

With  what  mingled  emotions  of  wonder  and  rap- 
ture must  the  bosom  of  Columbus  have  been  agitated, 
when  the  new  hemisphere  burst  upon  his  view,  open- 
ing to  his  imagination  its  boundless  'stores  of  beauty, 
wealth,  and  plenty.  And  yet  how  does  such  an  event, 
magnificent  and  sublime  indeed,  compared  with  all 
sublunary  affairs,  dwindle  into  insignificance,  when 
contrasted  with  the  first  conception  that  an  immortal 
mind  is  led  to  form,  not  of  a  new  world,  but  of  the 
God  who  created  all  worlds. 

I  have  seen  the  same  spirit  agitated  with  fearful 
solicitude  at  the  prospect  of  meeting  that  God,  at  whose 
bar  it  was  taught  we  must  all  appear,  and  anxiously 
inquiring  what  must  be  done  to  secure  the  favor  of  so 
pure  and  holy  an  intelligence. 

I  have  seen  the  same  spirit  bowed  beneath  a  sense 
of  sin,  and  casting  itself  upon  the  mercy  of  God  through 
a  Eedeemer  whose  character  and  offices  it  had  just 
begun  to  understand.  And  I  have  seen  it,  as  I  fondly 
trust,  consoled,  and  soothed,  and  gladdened  with  the 
hope  of  an  interest  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  being  made 
meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

A  little  while  ago  this  immortal  mind  had  its  vision 
bounded  by  the  narrow  circle  of  temporal  objects: 
now,  its  ken  embraces  the  vast  extent  of  its  immortal 


KEV.   THOS.    H.   GALLAUDET.  139 

existence,  with  all  the  momentous  realities  of  that 
unseen  world  whither  it  is  hastening.  Then,  oh,  what 
a  degradation !  it  was  kindred  to  the  beasts  of  the  field : 
now,  what  an  exaltation !  we  hope  that  it  is  allied  to 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect;  that  it  is  elevated 
to  communion  with  its  God ! 

And  now,  my  brethren,  will  you  deem  my  plea  too 
urgent,  when  I  call  upon  you  to  imitate  the  example 
of  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles ;  when  I  solicit  your 
sympathy  for  those  who  as  truly  sit  in  darkness  and  in 
the  region  of  the  shadow  of  death  as  those  did  among 
wrhom  Paul  labored  ;  or  as  those  heathen  of  the  present 
day,  to  whom  missionaries  and  Bibles  are  sent?  For 
the  moral  waste-ground  is  alike  desolate,  whether  it  lies 
beneath  an  Asiatic  or  African  sun,  or  whether  it  is 
found  nearer  at  home,  sadly  contrasted  with  the  gospel 
verdure  which  surrounds  it. 

Paul  was  constrained  to  preach  to  those  among 
whom  Christ  had  not  been  named.  Oh !  aid  us,  then, 
while  we  long  to  make  the  same  name  precious  to  the 
deaf  and  dumb. 

Is  encouragement  needed  in  so  generous  a  work  ? 
Let  me  present  to  your  view  the  same  sources  of  sup- 
port which  animated  the  efforts  of  the  apostle — I  mean 
the  encouragement  of  prophecy. 

'But,  as  it  is  written,  to  whom  he  was  not  spoken 
of,  they  shall  see  ;  and  they  that  have  not  heard  shall 
understand.' 

The  fullness  of  prophecy  stamps  it  with  the  char- 
acter of  divinity.  Stretching,  as  it  does,  through  a 
long  line  of  events,  and  embracing  within  its  scope,  not 
only  the  immediate  transactions  to  which  it  more  di- 
rectly referred,  but  those  remote  occurrences  which  are 


140  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

unfolded  in  the  progress  of  God's  providential  dispensa- 
tions ;  it  eludes  in  its  development  the  keenest  conjec- 
tures of  the  mortal  who  ventures  too  rashly  to  explore 
all  its  secret  premonitions ;  while  in  its  wonderful  ac- 
complishments, so  obvious  and  striking  when  they 
have  actually  taken  place,  it  demonstrates  that  it  could 
not  have  sprung  from  any  other  source  than  the  Omnis- 
cient Mind. 

Thus  many  of  the  psalms  which  alluded  more 
immediately  to  the  mighty  monarch  who  penned  them 
and  his  illustrious  son,  have  been  seen  to  have  a  more 
important  reference  to  One  mightier  than  David,  and 
more  illustrious  than  Solomon. 

Thus  our  Savior's  woeful  denunciation  of  ruin 
against  the  magnificent  city  which  witnessed  his  min- 
istry, and  sufferings,  and  death,  bears  also,  with  por- 
tentous presage,  upon  the  goodly  structure  of  the  whole 
visible  creation,  whose  final  catastrophe  is  to  be  more 
terrible  than  the  awful  overthrow  of  Jerusalem. 

And  thus,  we  may  suppose,  the  same  prophecy 
which  Paul  took  up  as  the  support  of  his  labors  among 
the  Gentiles,  looked  forward  to  events  which  are  now 
passing  before  our  eyes ;  and  which  are  to  pass,  until 
all  the  inspired  predictions  shall  have  received  their 
full  and  glorious  accomplishment.  For  if  Isaiah,  from 
whose  writings  the  words  of  my  text  were  originally 
taken,  had  spread  before  his  illuminated  vision  the 
Gentiles  of  Paul's  time,  why  may  we  not  reasonably 
conclude  that  the  Gentiles,  the  heathen,  of  our  day,  were 
also  included  in  his  cheering  predictions  ?  And  as  a 
portion  of  these  heathen,  is  it  too  bold  an  inference  to 
suppose  that  he  alluded  to  the  deaf  and  dumb  ? 

'  But,  as  it  is  written,  to  whom  he  was  not  spoken 


REV.   THOS.   IT.   GALLAUDET.  141 

of,  they  shall  see,  and  they  that  have  not  heard  shall 
understand.' 

I  wish,  therefore,  my  brethren,  while  pleading  the 
cause  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  to  call  forth  your  charity 
in  their  behalf  from  the  most  exalted  and  encouraging 
of  all  motives :  that  in  aiding  them  you  are  but  carry- 
ing into  effect  the  will  of  God ;  that  you  are  cooperat- 
ing with  him ;  and  that  he  is  pledged  to  crown  your 
labor  with  success,  inasmuch  as  his  own  prophecy  can- 
not otherwise  receive  its  accomplishment. 

And  it  is  already  receiving  its  accomplishment.  I 
do  not  exaggerate  the  truth,  when  I  say  that  they 
already  begin  to  see  to  whom  he  was  not  spoken  of; 
that  they  somewhat  understand,  who  have  not  heard. 
For  it  is  a  most  singular  trait  of  the  language  of  ges- 
tures and  signs,  that  it  is  sufficiently  significant  and 
copious  to  admit  of  an  application  even  to  the  most 
abstract  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  truth.  On 
tins  point  I  was  once  myself  skeptical ;  but  doubt  has 
yielded  to  actual  observation  of  the  fact ;  and  incredu- 
lity can  no  longer  urge  its  scruples  among  those  who 
have  become  familiar  with  the  deaf  and  dumb.  "Were 
the  occasion  a  proper  one,  I  should  not  deem  it  a  dif- 
ficult task  to  satisfy  you,  upon  the  acknowledged  prin- 
ciples of  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind,  that  there 
is  no  more  intrinsic  or  necessary  connection  between 
ideas  of  whatever  kind,  and  audible  or  written  language, 
than  between  the  same  ideas  and  the  language  of  signs 
and  gestures  ;  and  that  the  latter  has  even  one  advan- 
tage over  the  former,  inasmuch  as  it  possesses  a  power 
of  analogical  and  symbolical  description  which  can 
never  belong  to  any  combination  of  purely  arbitrary 
sounds  and  letters.     But  I  choose  the  rather  to  place 


142  LIFE   AND   LABOKS   OF 

it  on  the  more  safe  and  palpable  gronnd  of  observation, 
and  of  fact.  No  one  who  has  conversed  with  the  in- 
telligent laborer*  in  this  novel  department  of  education, 
himself  born  deaf  and  dumb ;  no  one  who  has  wit- 
nessed the  almost  magical  facility  with  which  he  con- 
veys, by  his  own  expressive  language  of  signs,  truths 
the  most  difficult  and  abstract,  to  his  companions  in 
misfortune ;  no  one  who  has  observed  the  ingenious, 
and  often  subtle  inquiries  which  they  are  prompt  to 
make  on  the  various  subjects  which  have  been  commu- 
nicated to  their  minds,  can  withhold  his  assent  from 
the  acknowledgement  of  the  position,  that  all-important 
intellectual  and  religious  truth  may  be  taught  them  by 
the  language  of  signs,  and  even  before  they  are  capable 
of  reading  and  understanding  ours. 

Do  not  suggest  then,  my  brethren,  that  I  call  you 
to  lavish  }^our  efforts  upon  a  fruitless  and  unpromising 
soil.  It  has  long,  indeed,  been  overrun  with  the  thorns 
and  briers  of  ignorance ;  but  help  us  to  plant  and  to 
water,  and,  under  the  blessing  of  Him  who  giveth  the 
increase,  it  shall  become  like  the  garden  of  God,  and 
put  forth  blossoms,  and  bear  fruit,  which  may  yet 
flourish  with  immortal  beauty  in  the  paradise  above. 

And,  while  we  would  thus  endeavor  to  prepare 
the  deaf  and  dumb  for  a  better  world,  we  will  not 
neglect  the  means  of  making  them  happy  and  useful 
in  the  present  life.  How  many  of  their  hours  are 
now  consumed  by  a  torpid  indolence  and  vacuity  of 
thought !  How  cheerless  is  their  perpetual  solitude  ! 
How  are  they  cut  off  from  the  fellowship  of  man ! 
How  ignorant  are  they  of  many  of  the  common  trans- 
actions of  life !     How  unable  are  they  to  rank  even 

*  M.  Laurent  Clerc. 


REV.   TH OS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  143 

with  the  most  illiterate  of  their  fellow-men !  How 
inaccessible  to  them  are  all  the  stores  of  knowledge 
and  comfort  which  books  contain  I  How  great  a  bur- 
den do  they  often  prove  to  their  parents  and  friends ! 
How  apt  are  they  to  be  regarded  by  the  passing  glance 
of  curiosity  as  little  elevated  above  the  idiot  or  the 
beast  of  the  field  ! 

We  would  soothe  and  cheer  these  lonely,  forsaken 
and  hapless  beings.  We  would  give  them  the  enjoy- 
ment which  active  industry  always  affords.  We  would 
teach  their  judgment  to  distinguish,  their  imagination 
to  portray,  and  their  memory  to  retain,  the  various 
objects  which  the  boundless  stores  of  human  and 
divine  knowledge  present  to  their  view.  We  would 
make  some  of  them  capable  of  engaging  in  useful 
mechanical  employments ;  others  of  holding  respect- 
able stations  in  private  and  public  spheres  of  commer-* 
cial  transactions ;  and  those  who  discover  a  genius 
and  taste  for  such  pursuits,  of  cultivating  the  fine 
arts  ;  and  all,  of  thus  becoming  valuable  members  of 
society,  of  contributing  to  the  common  stock  of  happi- 
ness, and  of  gaining  a  livelihood  by  their  own  personal 
exertions.  We  would  introduce  them  to  the  delights 
of  social  intercourse ;  to  a  participation  of  the  privileges 
of  freemen  ;  to  the  dignity  of  citizens  of  a  flourishing 
and  happy  community.  We  would  furnish  them  with 
one  of  the  highest  solaces  of  retirement,  that  which 
may  be  drawn  from  the  fountains  of  science  and  litera- 
ture ;  and  books  should  supply  them  with  a  perpetual 
source  of  instruction  and  delight,  gladdening  many 
an  hour  of  solitude  which  is  now  filled  up  only  with 
indolence  or  anxiety.  We  would  render  them  a  com- 
fort to  their  friends,  and  the  prop  of  the  declining 


144  LIFE  AND  LABOES   OF 

years  of  those  who  have  hitherto  only  bemoaned  the 
sad  continuance  of  their  condition  without  any  hope 
of  relief.  "We  would  shield  them  against  contumely ; 
and  almost  render  them  no  longer  the  objects  even 
of  condolence  and  pity.  Thus  they  would  soon  have 
a  common  cause  of  gratitude  Avith  us,  for  all  the  tem- 
poral blessings  which  Providence  sheds  down  upon 
this  vale  of  tears. 

And  how  would  the  feeble  powers  of  him  who 
thus  attempts  to  plead  before  you  the  cause  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  yield  in  efficacy  to  the  sight  of  these 
children  of  suffering,  could  I  but  place  them  before 
your  eyes !  Then  I  would  make  no  appeal  to  your 
sympathy.  I  would  only  afford  it  an  opportunity  of 
having  full  scope,  by  the  interesting  and  affecting 
spectacle  which  would  excite  it.  I  would  point  you 
to  the  man  of  mature  age ;  to  the  blooming  youth ; 
and  to  the  tender  child;  all  eager  to  gather  a  few 
sheaves  from  that  abundant  harvest  of  knowledge, 
with  which  a  kinder  Providence  has  blessed  you.  I 
would  explain  to  you,  if  indeed  nature  did  not  speak 
a  language  too  forcible  to  need  explanation,  the  lamen- 
tation of  one  bemoaning  the  long  lapse  of  years  which 
had  rolled  by  him  without  furnishing  one  ray  of 
knowledge  or  of  hope  with  regard  to  his  immortal 
destiny.  I  would  bid  you  mark  the  intense  and  eager 
look  of  another,  who  was  just  catching  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  religious  truth.  And  your  tears  should 
mingle  with  theirs  who  would  be  seen  sympathizing, 
in  all  the  fullness  of  a  refined  and  susceptible  imagi- 
nation, with  the  anguish  of  the  venerable  patriarch 
about  to  sacrifice  his  son  ;  or  the  grief  of  the  tender 
Joseph  sold  by  his  unrelenting  brethren ;  or  the  agonies 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  14:5 

of  Him  who  bled  to  redeem  both  you  and  them  from 
sin,  and  sorrow,  and  suffering. 

Yes,  the  deaf  and  dumb  would  plead  their  own 
cause  best.  But  they  cannot  do  it.  Their  lip  is 
sealed  in  eternal  silence.  They  are  scattered  in  lonely 
solitude  throughout  our  land.  They  have  excited  but 
little  compassion  ;  for  uncomplaining  sorrow,  in  our 
cold-hearted  world,  is  apt  to  be  neglected.  Now,  they 
see  some  dawning  of  hope.  They  venture,  therefore, 
to  ask  aid  from  those  who  extend  their  generous 
charities  to  other  objects  of  compassion ;  and  crave 
that  they  may  not  be  quite  overlooked  amid  the  noble 
exertions  that  are  making,  it  is  to  be  hoped  in  the 
spirit,  and  with  the  zeal,  of  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  to  fulfill  the  animating  prophecy ;  that,  '  to 
whom  he  was  not  spoken  of,  they  shall  see ;  and  they 
that  have  not  heard  shall  understand.' 

And  can  you  wish,  my  brethren,  for  a  sweeter 
recollection  to  refresh  the  slumbers  of  your  nightly 
pillow,  or  the  declining  moments  of  a  short  and  weary 
life,  than  to  think  that  you  have  succored  these  chil- 
dren of  misfortune,  who  look  to  you  for  the  means  of 
being  delivered  from  a  bondage  more  galling  than  that 
of  the  slave — from  an  ignorance  more  dreadful  than 
that  of  the  wild  and  untutored  savage  ?  One  tear  of 
gratitude,  glistening  in  the  eye  of  these  objects  of 
your  pity ;  one  smile  of  thankfulness,  illuminating 
their  countenance,  would  be  a  rich  recompense  for  all 
you  should  do  for  them.  To  think  that  you  had  con- 
tributed to  rescue  an  intelligent,  susceptible  and  im- 
mortal mind,  as  it  were,  from  nonexistence  ;  that  you 
had  imitated  that  Savior  who  went  about  doing  good ; 
that  you  had  solaced  the  aching  bosom  of  parental 
7 


146  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

love  ;  that  you  had  introduced  a  fellow-being  to  those 
enjoyments  of  society  in  which  you  so  richly  partici- 
pate ;  to  the  charms  of  books  which  had  cheered  so 
many  of  your  hours  of  solitude ;  and  to  the  contem- 
plation of  those  sublime  and  affecting  truths  of  relig- 
ion, which  you  profess  to  make  the  foundation  of 
your  dearest  hopes :  will  not  this  be  a  more  grateful 
theme  of  remembrance,  than  to  look  back  upon  the 
wasted  delights  amid  which  pleasure  has  wantoned ; 
the  crumbling  possessions  for  which  avarice  has  toiled, 
or  the  fading  honors  for  which  ambition  has  strug- 
gled ?  These,  fascinating  as  they  may  be  to  the  eyes 
of  youthful  hope,  or  bewildering  as  they  do  the  dreams 
of  our  too  sanguine  imagination,  soon  pass  away,  like 
the  brilliancy  of  the  morning  cloud,  or  the  sparkling 
of  the  early  dew.  The  other  will  be  as  immortal  as 
the  mind ;  it  will  abide  the  scrutiny  of  conscience ;  it 
will  endure  the  test  of  that  day  of  awful  retribution, 
when  standing,  as  we  all  must,  at  the  bar  of  our  final 
Judge,  he  will  greet,  with  the  plaudit  of  his  gracious 
benediction,  those  who  have  given  even  a  cup  of  cold 
water,  in  his  name,  to  the  meanest  of  his  disciples — 
to  the  least  of  these  little  ones,  whom  his  mysterious 
providence  has  cast  upon  our  care. 

May  such  an  imitation  of  his  example,  in  the 
spirit  of  his  Gospel,  be  to  each  of  us  the  surest  pledge 
that  we  are  truly  his  disciples,  and  that  we  are  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  that  kingdom,  where  there  will 
be  no  more  sin  to  bemoan,  or  suffering  to  relieve. 
Amen." 

Not  contented  with  perfecting  the  system  of  panto- 
mime, for  the  social,  literary,  and  religious  education  of 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  147 

the  deaf  and  dumb,  Mr.  Gallaudet  extended  his  specu- 
lations to  its  applicability  far  beyond  that  circle,  even 
to  the  heathen  nations  of  strange  tongues.  Some  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  experiments,  which  he  and  his 
associate,  M.  Clerc,  made,  convinced  him  that  it  might 
be  enlisted  to  great  advantage  in  the  cause  of  foreign 
missions,  and  reach  the  heathen  mind  much  sooner 
than  could  be  done  in  the  long  and  tedious  process  of 
learning  their  barbarous  dialects,  or  written  languages. 
Accordingly  he  digested,  wrote  out,  and  published 
the  following  Essay,  which  for  masterly  analysis,  philo- 
sophical acumen,  and  varied  illustration,  would  of 
itself  give  the  author  a  high  rank  with  the  inventive 
thinkers  of  his  age. 

ESSAY  ON  THE  USE  OF  THE  LANGUAGE  OF 

SIGNS. 

M  In  the  summer  of  1818,  a  Chinese  young  man 
passed  through  Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  which  place 
there  is  an  asylum  for  the  education  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb.  He  was  so  ignorant  of  the  English  language 
that  he  could  not  express  in  it  his  most  common  wants. 
The  Principal  of  the  Asylum  invited  the  stranger  to 
spend  an  evening  within  its  walls,  and  introduced  him 
to  M.  Laurent  Clerc,  the  celebrated  deaf  and  dumb 
pupil  of  the  Abbe  Sicard,  and,  at  the  time,  an  assistant 
teacher  in  the  Asylum.  The  object  of  this  introduction 
was,  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  M.  Clerc,  who  was 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  Chinese  language,  could  con- 
duct an  intelligible  conversation  with  the  foreigner  by 
signs  and  gestures  merely.  The  result  of  the  experi- 
ment surprised  all  who  were  present.  M.  Clerc 
learned  from  the   Chinese  many  interesting  facts  re- 


148  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

specting  the  place  of  his  nativity,  his  parents  and  their 
family,  his  former  pursuits  in  his  own  country,  his 
residence  in  the  United  States,  and  his  notions  concern- 
ing God  and  a  future  state.  By  the  aid  of  appropriate 
signs,  also,  Mr.  Clerc  ascertained  the  meaning  of  about 
twenty  Chinese  words.  When  the  conversation  began, 
the  stranger  appeared  to  be  bewildered  with  amaze- 
ment at  the  novel  kind  of  language  that  was  addressed 
to  him.  Soon,  however,  he  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  very  expressive  and  significant  manner  which 
M.  Clerc  used  to  make  himself  understood ;  and,  be- 
fore one  hour  had  expired,  a  very  quick  and  lively 
interchange  of  thought  took  place  between  these  so 
lately  entire  strangers  to  each  other.  The  Chinese 
himself  began  to  catch  the  spirit  of  his  new  deaf  and 
dumb  acquaintance,  and  to  employ  the  language  of  the 
countenance  and  gestures,  with  considerable  effect,  to 
make  himself  understood. 

About  a  year  afterwards,  the  Principal  of  the  Asy- 
lum visited  Cornwall,  a  small  village  in  Connecticut, 
where  upwards  of  twenty  heathen  youth  are  procuring 
their  education  under  the  patronage  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  With 
the  consent  of  the  Principal  of  that  Institution,  the 
Principal  of  the  Asylum  one  evening  gathered  round 
him  several  of  these  interesting  strangers  from  the 
islands  of  the  South  Seas,  and  from  different  tribes  01 
the  North  American  Indians.  The  object  of  the  in- 
terview was  to  ascertain  how  far  a  conversation  could 
be  conducted  with  them  by  signs  and  gestures  merely. 
The  result  was  similar  to  that  in  the  case  of  M.  Clerc's 
intercourse  with  the  Chinese.  Questions  were  proposed 
to  them  on  a  variety  of  topics  relating  to  their  own 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  149 

individual  history  and  that  of  their  families,  to  the 
state  of  manners  and  morals  in  their  respective  conn- 
tries,  and  to  their  early  religious  knowledge.  For 
example,  Thomas  Hoopoo,  a  native  of  Owhyhee,  was 
asked  if  his  parents  were  living,  how  many  brothers 
and  sisters  he  had,  when  he  left  his  native  shores, 
whether  his  countrymen  worshiped  idols  and  sacri- 
ficed human  victims,  how  the  women  were  treated  by 
the  men,  what  was  the  climate  of  his  country  and  its 
productions,  with  many  inquiries  of  a  similar  nature, 
all  of  which  he  well  comprehended,  and  to  many  of 
which  he  himself  replied  by  signs.  The  meaning,  too, 
of  a  number  of  Owhyhean  words  was  ascertained  by 
signs  merely,  and  found  to  correspond  with  the  import 
Avhich  had  previously  been  assigned  to  them  in  a  dic- 
tionary which  had  been  for  some  time  preparing  in  the 
school,  and  indeed,  in  a  variety  of  instances,  the  most 
correct  meaning  of  such  words  was  established  by  the 
medium  of  signs,  in  a  more  satisfactory  way  than  had 
been  previously  attempted  by  a  different  method.  In 
all  of  this  conversation,  the  heathen  youth  appeared  to 
take  a  deep  interest,  and  to  have  a  peculiar  aptitude 
both  in  comprehending  the  signs  which  were  proposed 
to  them,  and  in  inventing  those  which  were  necessary 
for  a  reply.  And,  on  the  testimony  of  several  of  the 
South  Sea  Islanders,  it  appeared  that  not  a  few  of  the 
signs  employed  in  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  are  precisely  the  same  which  their  countiymen 
use  to  supply  the  deficiency  of,  or  to  give  emphasis  to, 
their  own  comparatively  barren  language — a  fact  which 
had,  indeed,  been  anticipated,  from  the  singular  cir- 
cumstance so  often  observed  by  the  teachers  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb  among  their  pupils,  that  those  who 


150  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

meet  for  the  first  time  are  able  to  understand  each  other 
fully  on  many  common  topics,  nature  having  laid  the 
foundation,  in  the  very  constitution  of  our  species,  and 
in  the  structure  and  processes  of  the  visible  creation, 
for  a  universal  expression  of  the  same  idea  on  a  vast 
variety  of  subjects,  by  similar  signs. 

Can  the  Christian  philosopher  make  any  important 
practical  use  of  these  singular  and  interesting  pheno- 
mena? In  this  age  of  wonderful  experiment,  may 
they  not  furnish  data  from  which  successful  principles 
may  be  derived  and  applied  with  reference  to  the  in- 
struction of  those  heathen  nations  who  have  no  written 
or  printed  language?  May  not  this  curious  language 
of  signs  and  gestures  be  made  subservient  to  the  speedy 
acquisition  of  the  oral  language  of  such  people  by  the 
missionary  who  goes  among  them,  or  to  the  communi- 
cation to  them  of  his  language,  or  to  their  mutual  in- 
tercourse with  each  other,  not  only  on  common  but  on 
momentous  topics,  even  while  they  are  ignorant  en- 
tirely of  each  other's  spoken  language  ?  Who  that  is 
acquainted  with  the  propensity  of  all  rude  nations  to 
use  signs  and  hieroglyphic  symbols  in  their  intercourse 
with  each  other,  and  in  the  preservation  of  their  sim- 
ple historical  annals;  or  who  that  has  read  the  in- 
teresting narrative  of  Captain  Hall's  visit  to  the  Loo- 
Choo  islands,  and  the  immense  difficulties  he  had  to 
encounter  in  his  intercourse  with  the  natives,  and  the 
continual  necessity  which  they  mutually  felt  of  resort- 
ing to  signs  and  gestures  when  every  other  expedient 
failed,  can  deem  it  a  too  sanguine  expectation  to  be  in- 
dulged, that  a  knowledge  of  that  matured  and  syste- 
matized language  of  signs  and  gestures  which  is  em- 
ployed in  unfolding  the  latent  intellectual  and  moral 


LEV.   TIIOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  151 

powers  of  one  part  of  our  species  who  are  deprived  of 
the  organs  of  hearing,  and  consequently  of  the  power 
of  speech,  might  be  employed  with  equal  success  among 
the  other  part  of  our  species  who  are  deaf  to  the  words 
of  our  language,  and  who  are  dumb  to  us  in  attempting 
to  make  us  understand  the  import  of  theirs  ?  To  sum 
up  this  inquiry  in  a  few  words,  of  what  use  would  the 
language  of  signs  and  gestures  be  to  the  missionary 
who  is  sent  to  a  heathen  people,  possessing  only  an 
oral  language,  of  which  he  is  entirely  ignorant,  while 
they  are  equally  ignorant  of  his  ? 

In  solving  this  inquiry,  two  undeniable  positions 
may  be  premised ;  the  one,  that  it  is  quite  practicable 
to  convey,  by  the  countenance,  signs,  and  gestures,  the 
import,  not  only  of  all  the  terms  employed  to  denote 
the  various  objects  of  nature  and  art,  and  the  multi- 
farious business  and  concerns  of  common  life,  but 
also  those  relating  to  the  process  of  abstraction  and 
generalization,  to  the  passions  and  emotions  of  the 
heart,  and  to  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  under- 
standing ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  language  of  the 
countenance,  signs,  and  gestures,  is  an  accurate,  sig- 
nificant, and  copious  medium  of  thought ;  the  other, 
that  instances  have  occurred  in  the  instruction  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  in  which,  in  the  space  of  two  years, 
five  thousand  words  have  been  taught  several  intelli- 
gent pupils,  who  were  previously  entirely  ignorant  of 
them,  and  of  all  language,  except  that  of  their  own 
natural  signs,  together  with  a  command  of  written 
language,  which  would  place  them  on  an  equality, 
with  regard  to  the  expression  of  their  ideas,  with  the 
most  intelligent  persons  among  those  heathen  nations, 
who  have  nothing  but  an  oral  language. 


152  LIFE   AXD   LABORS   OF 

Keeping  these  positions  in  mind,  let  us  proceed 
to  the  examination  of  our  subject.  Let  us  suppose  a 
missionary  to  be  landed  on  one  of  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  to  the  minds  of 
its  inhabitants  the  interesting  truths  of  the  Gospel. 
They  are  entirely  ignorant  of  the  English  language, 
and  the  missionary  is  supposed  to  be  as  ignorant  of 
theirs.  It  is  in  vain  for  him  to  begin  with  putting 
an  English  grammar  or  dictionary  into  the  hands  of 
the  natives,  and  they  cannot  furnish  him  with  one  of 
theirs.  Words,  either  of  his  or  their  language,  must 
first  be  learned,  before  they  can  advance  a  single  step 
in  their  intercourse  with  each  other.  His  first  attempt 
will  naturally  be  to  learn  the  language  of  the  island. 
How  is  he  to  do  this  ?  He  points  to  the  most  common 
objects,  and  inquires  their  names;  thus  he  may  easily 
learn  the  names  of  everything  which  immediately  ad- 
dresses itself  to  some  one  of  the  senses.  In  all  this,  he 
learns  nothing  by  the  ear,  excepting,  indeed,  the 
names  of  the  mere  sounds  of  animals,  or  of  nature,  or 
of  music  ;  besides  these,  all  his  knowledge  of  this  part 
of  the  vocabulary  of  the  island,  is  obtained  through 
the  medium  of  the  eye.  To  be  sure,  the  name,  or  ar- 
bitrary sign,  for  these  various  objects,  is  an  oral  one ; 
but  this  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  the  import 
of  this  sign,  which  might  as  well  have  been  expressed 
by  an  appropriate  gesture,  or  by  the  manual  alphabet 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  or  by  written  characters.  But 
these  objects  which  are  addressed  to  the  senses,  are 
not  always  accessible.  He  may  have  forgotten  the 
name  of  an  animal,  a  tree,  a  fruit,  or  a  utensil,  and 
may  wish  to  have  it  again  repeated.  The  object  must 
be  sought  before  its  name  can  be  revived.     But  were 


REV.   TIIOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  153 

th:  missionary  familiar  With  the  language  of  signs — ■ 
and  a  little  practice  would  make  the  native  equally  so — 
without  stirring  from  the  shade  of  the  tree,  under 
which  they  are  conversing,  they  can,  in  imagination, 
gather  round  them  all  the  objects  of  the  visible  world, 
and  fix  their  names  in  the  memory.  These  signs, 
too,  being  actual  portraits  of  the  objects,  serve  most 
easily  to  recall  them  when  the  arbitrary  sound  which 
denotes  them  may  have  escaped  from  the  recollection. 
But  this  is  comparatively  the  least  important  part  of 
the  labor  of  the  missionary.  He  now  wishes  to  learn 
the  terms  which  denote  the  most  common  motions  and 
actions  of  the  body ;  for  instance,  to  eat,  to  drink,  to 
walk,  to  run,  to  ride,  to  sleep.  Must  he  wait  till  he 
and  the  native  see  some  one  performing  these  actions 
or  shall  he  make  a  sign  descriptive  of  them?  The 
sign  would  be  easily  understood,  and  the  name  set- 
tled. In  this  respect  he  gains  no  new  knowledge  by 
the  ear.  It  is  all  acquired  by  the  eye.  He  and  his 
companion  are,  as  it  were,  deaf  and  dumb.  He  next 
is  anxious  to  learn  the  words  which  denote  some  of 
the  familiar  occupations  of  life;  perhaps  to  boil,  to 
bake,  to  cut,  to  kindle  a  fire,  to  build  a  hut,  &c.  Must 
he  go  where  these  processes  are  actually  taking  place  ? 
He  need  not,  if  he  is  familiar  with  the  language  of 
signs  and  gestures.  He  describes  a  kettle  by  signs; 
he  places  wood  beneath  it ;  he  fills  it  with  water ;  he 
kindles  the  fire  ;  he  portrays  the  bubbling  of  the  water; 
dips  his  finger  into  it,  and  draws  it  out  suddenly,  as  if 
it  were  burned.  He  has,  before,  learned  the  name  of 
water,  and  what  do  you  call  this  bubbling  water,  he 
inquires;  this  water  which  burns  my  finger?  The 
replv  furnishes  him  with  the  name  he  sought,  and  a 
7* 


154  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

sign  is  also  established  for  the  act  of  boiling,  which 
may  be  profitably  used  in  various  other  instances. 
And,  in  a  similar  way,  he  may  get  the  meaning  of  all 
the  other  terms  descriptive  of  common  transactions. 
Still,  it  is  his  eye  which  teaches  him,  and  not  his  ear. 
He  is  still,  as  well  as  his  companion,  practically  deaf 
and  dumb. 

The  various  emotions  of  the  heart,  the  founda- 
tion, let  it  be  remembered,  of  all  moral  and  religious 
instruction,  perhaps,  next  demands  the  attention  of  our 
missionary.  He  may  utter  the  words,  love  and  hate 
ten  thousand  times,  and  ask  as  often,  of  the  islander, 
what  are  the  corresponding  terms  in  his  language, 
but  to  no  purpose.  A  mother  passes,  who  is  caress- 
ing her  infant  with  parental  tenderness,  and  two 
friends  soon  follow  her,  who  are  exhibiting,  by  their 
looks  and  conversation,  the  emotion  of  attachment. 
Now  he  has  something  upon  which  to  fix  the  attention 
of  the  native,  and  inquires,  by  what  term  he  denotes 
this  feeling  ?  The  eye,  and  not  the  ear,  is  still  the 
medium  of  intercourse.  But  he  might  have  portrayed 
a  woman,  by  appropriate  signs,  and  the  infant  whom 
she  caresses,  and  the  friends  who  were  conversing 
together,  without  waiting  to  have  these  scenes  actu- 
ally take  place ;  and  in  addition  to  this,  exhibit  the 
emotion  of  love,  strongly,  in  his  own  countenance, 
and  the  islander  at  once  comprehends  him,  and  thus 
a  new  word  and  a  new  symbolical  sign  are  settled  for 
future  use.  By  similar  processes  of  description,  he 
may  speedily  add  the  names  of  all  the  passions  and 
emotions  to  his  vocabulary.  He  advances  to  the  oper- 
ations of  the  intellect ;  and  what  a  Herculean  task  is 
before  him  !     By  what  process  shall  he  present  to  the 


REV.    THOS.   H.    GALLAUBET.  155 

observation  of  the  islander  such  operations  of  the 
mind,  as  to  think,  to  remember,  to  forget,  to  under- 
stand, to  contemplate,  to  imagine  ?  He  sees,  at  a  dis- 
tance, a  man  building  his  hut ;  the  man  finds  a  difficulty 
in  the  construction  of  its  door ;  he  stops,  and  assumes 
the  attitude  of  thought —the  moment  is  a  happy  one — 
and  the  missionary  inquires,  by  what  term  that  visible 
exhibition  of  the  internal  working  of  the  mind  is  de- 
noted, and  gets  a  satisfactory  reply.  But  this  illustra- 
tive example  might  not  have  occurred  for  hours,  or 
even  days.  By  the  language  of  signs,  however,  he 
can  portray  that  very  example,  and  a  hundred  others 
equally  as  pertinent;  and  thus,  on  the  spot,  acquire 
the  new  word  which  he  seeks. 

He  rises  from  the  ground;  he  describes  by  signs 
the  setting  of  the  sun  and  the  appearing  of  the  stars 
covering  the  whole  concave  of  the  sky ;  he  puts  him- 
self in  the  attitude  of  contemplation ;  his  eye  leisurely 
surveys  the  immense  assemblage  of  the  heavenly  hosts  ; 
his  countenance  exhibits  the  operation  of  his  soul. 
The  islander,  who  has  already  caught  with  enthusias- 
tic ardor  this  new  and  fascinating  language,  immedi- 
ately utters  the  word  in  his  own  tongue,  which  denotes 
to  contemplate.  Still  the  eye  claims  the  honor  of  being 
the  teacher,  the  ear  serves  only  the  humble  purpose  of 
furnishing  an  arbitrary  name  by  which  the  imagination 
may  again  form  and  the  memory  review  the  associated 
thoughts. 

Our  fellow-students  need  a  few  adjectives  to  add  to 
their  nomenclature,  such  as  high  and  low,  hard  and 
soft,  long  and  short,  round  and  square,  bold  and  cow- 
ardly, alive  and  dead.  They  are  quickly  learned,  for 
the  various  objects  to  which  these  epithets  belong  can 


156  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

easily  be  presented  to  the  imagination  by  signs,  and 
so  can  the  qualities  which  are  denoted  by  the  above- 
mentioned  terms,  and  all  this  is  done  while  our  mis- 
sionary and  his  friend  are  still  reposing  beneath  their 
favorite  bread-fruit  tree. 

And  now  pronouns  must  be  be  learned,  and  the 
cases  of  nouns,  and  the  comparison  of  adjectives,  and 
the  moods  and  tenses  of  verbs.  'I  give  you  a  fish,' 
says  the  missionary ;  '  what  is  that  in  your  language  ?' 
He  speaks  an  unknown  tongue.  But  he  makes  the 
sign  for  a  fish,  he  points  to  himself  as  possessing  it,  he 
hands  it  to  his  companion,  and  signifies  that  he  will 
not  take  it  back,  that  it  is  to  belong  to  his  companion. 
He  is  immediately  furnished  with  the  appropriate 
phrase.  He  multiplies  such  examples,  and  he  soon 
has  a  little  stock  of  phrases,  by  the  comparing  of  which 
together,  he  begins  to  elicit  the  structure  and  idiom  of 
the  language.  Were  he  not  to  pursue  this  course  he 
must  wait  day  after  day,  till  the  suitable  occasions 
occur  illustrative  of  the  phrases  whose  import  he  seeks. 
1  How  many  tenses  have  your  verbs  ?  '  The  question 
is  a  useless  one.  He  must  allude  to  some  known  past 
or  some  anticipated  future  event,  in  order  to  obtain 
knowledge  on  this  point ;  and  what  carefulness  is  neces- 
sary, if  he  depends  on  the  common  occurrences  of  life 
as  they  transpire  during  his  intercourse  with  the  na- 
tives, in  order  to  acquire  an  accurate  knowledge  of  this 
very  difficult  part  of  all  languages.  But  if  he  has  well 
settled,  by  appropriate  signs,  the  diurnal  motion  of  the 
great  luminary  of  heaven,  the  succession  of  days  and 
nights,  of  weeks  and  months,  nay,  of  hours  and  min- 
utes, all  of  which  is  quite  practicable;  and  if  he  is 
expert  in  describing  motions  and  actions,  he  can  easily 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  157 

portray  a  variety  of  events  in  such  an  order  and  con- 
nection as  to  mark  all  the  varieties  of  time,  and  thus 
ascertain  how  this  order  and  succession  are  denoted  in 
all  the  various  tenses  of  the  language  which  it  is  his  aim 
to  acquire. 

These  illustrations  might  be  made  to  any  extent,  and 
they  would  all  go  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  first 
position  which  was  laid  down,  that  the  language  of  the 
countenance,  signs,  and  gestures  is  an  accurate,  signifi- 
cant, and  copious  medium  of  thought.  Consider,  too, 
that  it  is  only  by  the  eye  that  it  is  possible  to  acquire 
a  purely  oral  language ;  for,  suppose  that  the  mis- 
sionary knows  nothing  of  the  systematic  language  of 
signs  and  gestures  employed  in  the  instruction  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  that  he  arrives  among  a  people 
who  have  neither  a  written  nor  printed  language.  The 
words  which  he  hectrs  uttered  are  at  first  perfectly  un- 
intelligible to  him.  How  does  he  acquire  their  mean- 
ing? Solely  by  noticing  with  his  eye,  the  objects  to 
which  they  are  applied,  the  actions  which  they  denote, 
the  passions  or  emotions  which  they  describe,  the  occa- 
sions on  which  they  are  used,  together  with  all  that 
variety  of  visible  circumstances,  and  those  references 
to  past,  present,  or  future  periods  of  time,  which  fur- 
nish the  full  and  exact  import  of  what  they  are  intended 
to  convey  from  another  mind  to  his  own.  Now  all 
this  is,  in  fact,  a  language  of  signs  and  gestures,  and 
the  ear  has  nothing  more  to  do  with  it,  only  as  furnish- 
ing a  certain  set  of  audible  symbols  or  signs,  than  the 
fingers  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  in  their  acquisition  of 
language,  has,  by  furnishing  a  certain  set  of  visible  sym- 
bols or  signs.  If,  then,  instead  of  waiting  for  the  actual 
presence  of  these  objects,  and  the  recurrence  of  these 


158  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

actions,  passions,  emotions,  occasions,  and  circum- 
stances, lie  can  portray  and  describe  them  by  the  coun- 
tenance, signs,  and  gestures,  whenever  he  wishes  to 
take  his  lesson  in  the  language  that  he  is  anxious  to 
learn,  how  much  time  and  labor  will  he  be  saved ! 
Besides  being  master  of  all  the  varieties  of  signs  and 
gestures,  and  of  the  various  expressions  of  the  counte- 
nance, he  can  do  that  systematically  which  he  must 
otherwise  perform  in  a  desultory,  unconnected  manner, 
and  at  distant  intervals  of  time.  It  is  important,  too, 
in  the  acquisition  of  the  meaning  of  words,  which 
depend  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances  for  their  illus- 
tration, to  select  those  circumstances  only  which  are 
fairly  comprised  in  the  import  of  the  terms,  and  to 
reject  those  which  are  irrelevant.  And  here  is  the  prin- 
cipal difficulty  in  the  acquisition  of  a  new  language  by 
merely  hearing  it  used,  and  among  the  people  who  speak 
it.  The  occasions  on  which  words  are  used  must  be 
repeated  again  and  again,  before  the  exact  assemblage 
of  circumstances  can  be  selected  to  which  the  words 
belong.  But  he  who  is  versed  in  the  language  of  signs 
and  gestures,  forms  his  own  occasions,  introduces  only 
the  appropriate  circumstances,  and  rejects  all  the  adven- 
titious ones.  And  this  is  doubtless  the  principal  reason 
why  the  intelligent  deaf  and  dumb  pupil  is  often  so 
happy  in  the  accuracy  of  his  definitions  and  the  pre- 
cision of  his  use  of  words.  The  language,  too,  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb  admits  of  a  kind  of  a  permutation  and 
combination,  of  which  scarcely  any  other  is  suscepti- 
ble, unless,  indeed,  the  Chinese  furnish  an  exception. 
The  missionary,  for  instance,  has  settled  with  the  native 
the  sign  for  a  man  and  the  sign  for  a  sheep.  He  wishes 
to  learn  the  native's  term  for  sheoherd.     He  first  des- 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  159 

cribes  by  sign  a  sheep,  he  adds  the  sign  for  many,  he 
portrays  in  his  own  person  a  man  watching  over  these 
sheep,  and  he  is  at  once  put  in  possession  of  the  term 
which  he  sought.  Signs  and  gestures  have  a  peculiar 
significancy,  from  their  resemblance  to  the  object 
which  they  are  intended  to  denote ;  and  this  is  true 
even  of  those  which  are  employed  to  denote  intellectual 
objects,  from  the  fact  that  there  is  scarcely  an  emotion 
of  the  heart,  or  an  operation  of  the  mind,  which  is  not 
accompanied  with  some  corresponding  expression  of 
countenance,  or  attitude  of  the  body,  or  position  of  the 
limbs.  Almost  all  the  terms  which  we  employ  in 
spoken  language  to  denote  these  emotions  and  opera- 
tions, are  derived  from  the  material  world,  or  from 
some  state,  or  motion,  or  action  of  the  body ;  and  phi- 
losophers have  complained  of  this  as  involving  their 
discussions  on  the  philosophy  of  the  mind,  in  adven- 
titious difficulty  and  obscurity.  Be  that  as  it  may,  if 
the  fact  be  so,  the  emotions  of  the  heart  and  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mind  may  as  pertinently  be  expressed  in 
symbolical  signs  as  in  symbolical  words.  And  with- 
out incurring  the  charge  of  materialism,  it  may  safely 
be  asserted,  that  all  the  emotions  of  the  heart  are  ac- 
companied with  corresponding  changes  in  the  body ; 
and  that  many,  if  not  all  the  operations  of  the  mind 
produce  the  same  effect,  and  that  most  of  these  changes 
are  visible  to  the  eye.  In  confirmation  of  this  opinion, 
it  is  well  known  that  the  deaf  and  dumb,  previous  to 
instruction,  have  many  natural  and  universal  signs  by 
which  they  denote  various  states  of  their  minds  and 
feelings.  The  missionary,  therefore,  who  should  be 
acquainted  with  these  signs,  so  far  as  there  is  a  real 
foundation  for  them  in  nature,  would  possess  a  very  im- 


160  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

portant  aid  in  acquiring  the  language  of  a  heathen  peo- 
ple, and  of  establishing  a  speedy  medium  of  intercourse 
with  them. 

In  the  former  part  of  this  essay,  the  latter  of  the 
two  positions  premised  was,  that  instances  have  oc- 
curred in  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  in 
which,  in  the  space  of  two  years,  five  thousand  words 
have  been  taught  several  intelligent  pupils,  who  were 
previously  entirely  ignorant  of  them,  and  of  all  lan- 
guage excepting  that  of  their  own  natural  signs,  to- 
gether with  a  command  of  language,  which  would 
place  them  on  an  equality  with  regard  to  the  ex- 
pression of  their  ideas,  with  the  most  intelligent  per- 
sons among  those  heathen  nations,  who  have  nothing 
but  an  oral  language.  In  this,  nothing  is  assumed 
as  an  hypothesis.  An  actual  fact  is  taken,  and  forcibly 
suggests  the  following  inquiry.  If  such  a  command 
of  written  language  can  be  imparted  by  means  of  signs 
and  gestures,  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  to  a  mind 
enveloped  in  complete  ignorance  of  words  and  their 
construction  into  sentences,  what  would  hinder  the 
communication  of  the  same  command  of  language  to  a 
heathen,  who  should  be  entirely  ignorant  of  our  lan- 
guage, and  the  obtaining  from  him  also  the  corres- 
ponding words  and  their  construction  into  sentences 
in  his  own  language.  If  intelligent,  he  would  be  as 
capable  of  instruction  by  signs  and  gestures,  as  the 
deaf  and  dumb  pupil,  and  taking  this  language  of 
signs  and  gestures  as  the  medium  of  communication, 
while  he  would  be  learning  the  English  tongue,  if 
master  of  his  own,  he  could  in  his  turn,  teach  it  to  his 
instructor.  Thus  a  double  object  would  be  accom- 
plished at  the  same  time  and  by  the  same  process. 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  161 

Indeed,  a  class  might  be  formed  of  pupils  from  differ- 
ent heathen  countries,  and  while  the  English  language 
was  taught  all  its  members  bj  means  of  signs  and 
gestures,  by  the  same  means  each  would  be  enabled, 
without  any  confusion  or  embarrassment,  to  express 
the  corresponding  words  and  phrases  in  his  own 
tongue. 

Without  being,  therefore,  at  the  expense  of  ex- 
ploring our. western  wilds,  or  visiting  the  islands  of 
the  sea,  or  the  remote  regions  of  the  East,  could  in- 
telligent natives  be  procured  from  these  different 
countries,  all  of  whom  should  be  well  skilled  in  their 
respective  languages,  complete  vocabularies,  grammars 
and  dictionaries  of  their  language  could  be  formed  for 
the  future  operation  of  the  missionary,  and  able  in- 
terpreters be  trained  up  to  accompany  them ;  and  all 
this  might  be  accomplished  here  at  home,  in  a  shorter 
time,  and  at  much  less  expense,  and  with  less  labor 
than  are  now  bestowed  upon  the  same  object.  How 
is  it  that  the  mind  of  the  unlettered  deaf  and  dumb 
pupil,  and  that  of  his  instructor,  are  enabled  to  com- 
municate with  each  other?  "When  they  first  come 
into  contact,  they  have  no  medium  by  which  to  in- 
terchange their  thoughts.  This  medium  is  furnished 
by  the  language  of  signs  and  gestures,  and  it  soon 
becomes  so  significant,  accurate  and  copious,  as  to 
give  the  teacher  the  capacity  of  eliciting  all  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  powers  of  his  pupil,  and  of  gradu- 
ally conveying  to  his  mind  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
English  language.  Xo  wider  separation  could  possibly 
exist  between  the  teacher  and  the  rudest  native  of  a 
heathen  people.  No  greater  difficulties  would  have 
to  be  encountered,  nor  mightier  obstacles  to  be  re- 


162  LIFE  AXD   LABOES   OF 

moved,  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  So  that  the 
experiment  seems  to  have  placed  it  beyond  all  doubt 
that  under  similar  circumstances,  the  same  result  would 
be  produced.  How  far  a  school  for  heathen  youth 
conducted  upon  such  a  plan  would  be  more  rapid  and 
successful  in  its  operations,  than  those  which  employ 
the  common  mode  of  instruction  by  means  of  grammar 
and  dictionaries,  might  soon  be  determined.  Let  some 
intelligent  heathen  youth,  amiable  and  tractable  in  his 
disposition,  quick  and  lively  in  his  conception,  master 
of  his  own  language,  and  absolutely  ignorant  of  ours, 
be  taught  upon  the  same  plan  which  is  pursued  in  the 
instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  think,  that  he  would  acquire  a  more  accurate 
and  copious  use  of  the  English  language,  than  could 
possibly  be  imparted  to  him,  in  a  given  space  of  time, 
by  any  other  method ;  while  the  important  advantage 
would  also  be  gained,  of  his  being  enabled  by  his 
familiarity  with  signs  and  gestures,  to  teach  his  own 
language  to  his  instructor,  and  thus  with  the  aid  of 
each  other,  a  grammar  and  dictionary  of  his  language 
might  be  formed  for  the  future  use  of  the  missionary 
among  his  countrymen.  Should  this  interesting  ex- 
periment succeed,  a  new  era  would  be  opened  in  the 
history  of  missionary  efforts,  and  a  new  proof  be 
afforded  of  the  admirable  connection  which  God  often 
establishes  between  one  part  of  his  providential  dis- 
pensation and  another,  making  the  most  unlikely 
and  long- neglected  means,  which  some  happy  dis- 
covery brings  to  light,  efficacious  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  wise  and  inscrutable  designs.  Should 
it  fail,  at  least  some  new  phenomena  with  regard  to  the 
human  mind  would   be  noticed,  that  might  aid  the 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  163 

philosopher  in  his  researches,  no  injury  would  be 
done,  but  a  small  expense  would  be  incurred,  and  no 
greater  disappointment  or  mortification  happen,  than 
often  attends  the  efforts  of  those,  who  would  reduce 
every  new  hypothesis  to  the  test  of  experiment, 
and  who  are  willing  to  run  the  risk  of  being  thought 
to  be  sometimes  too  sanguine,  or  even  chimerical  in 
their  projects,  if  there  be  but  a  probability  that  such 
projects  may  terminate  in  doing  good  to  their  fellow- 
men.  For  the  philosopher  who  devotes  his  time  and 
talents  to  the  development  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  powers  of  the  human  mind,  should  be  as  willing 
to  witness  the  overthrow  of  his  most  interesting  hy- 
pothesis, as  the  chemist  is,  whose  happiest  discoveries 
have  often  been  the  unexpected  result  of  his  most 
unsuccessful  experiments." 

The  following  address  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet  at  a  public  exhibition  in  Hartford,  three  years 
after  the  opening  of  the  Asylum  : 

"  The  presence  of  this  assembly  assures  us,  that  the 
deaf  and  dumb  still  hold  a  place  in  your  regard. 
They  come  here  to-day  to  give  their  friends  an  oppor- 
tunity of  witnessing  the  progress  which  they  may 
have  made  in  the  acquisition  of  language,  and  in  the 
development  of  those  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 
which  they  possess,  in  common  with  their  fellow -men. 
In  doing  this,  I  trust  that  both  they  and  their  in- 
structors are  actuated,  in  some  measure  at  least,  by  a 
sense  of  gratitude  towards  the  numerous  patrons  and 
friends  of  the  Asylum,  who  may  reasonably  expect, 
from  time  to  time,  thus  to  have  the  fruits  of  their 
bounty  spread  before  them.     And  truly,  I  cannot  but 


164  LIFE  AND   LABOES  OF 

think  that  such  an  exhibition,  however  imperfect  it 
may  be,  of  what  can  be  done  to  rescue  the  human 
mind  from  the  grossest  ignorance,  and  to  lead  it  forth 
to  the  light  of  that  truth  which  alone  can  purify, 
console  and  cheer  it,  must  do  something  more  than 
gratify  the  eye  of  mere  curiosity — it  will  engage  the 
affections  of  every  benevolent  heart. 

Nearly  sixty  deaf  and  dumb  persons  are  present, 
to  whom,  four  years  ago,  their  own  existence  was  a 
wonder  not  to  be  explained ;  nature  without  a  God ; 
the  world  a  complicated  enigma ;  life  a  little  round 
of  animal  enjoyment,  and  death  a  terrific  mystery. 
Many  of  these  who,  before  they  came  here,  knew  not 
that  they  had  a  soul,  can  now  discourse  intelligibly 
with  you  on  the  operations  and  emotions  of  that  soul ; 
they  know,  as  well  as  we  do,  its  immortal  destiny ; 
they  begin  to  read  the  pages  of  that  book,  from  which 
beams  forth  the  light  of  life  and  immortality ;  they 
understand  the  requisitions  of  the  Gospel ;  they  have 
learned  who  that  Savior  is,  that  can  rescue  them  from 
the  thraldom  of  ignorance  and  sin,  and  introduce  them 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Their  condition,  thus  happily  meliorated,  not  only 
furnishes  a  source  of  high  enjoyment  to  every  be- 
nevolent mind,  but  holds  forth  a  very  powerful  motive 
to  those  of  us,  on  whom  the  Author  of  our  being  has 
conferred  superior  privileges,  to  cultivate  a  livelier 
gratitude,  and  a  stronger  sense  of  our  obligations  to 
him.  The  various  dispensations  of  his  providence 
are  full  of  useful  instruction,  and,  perhaps,  there  are 
few  more  so,  than  the  existence  of  so  many  deaf  and 
dumb  persons  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  The 
inquiry  has  often  arisen  in  my  own  mind,  why  this 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  165 

singular  fact  has  taken  place,  and  what  relation  it  can 
bear  to  the  general  economy  of  that  system  of  things 
which  we  have  reason  to  believe  has  all  its  parts  so 
united  together  as  to  form  the  most  complete  order 
and  harmony.  "Were  a  deaf  and  dumb  person  a 
prodigy,  we  might  be  led  to  think  that  he  had  no 
more  connection  with  the  general  system  of  provi- 
dence, than  those  solitary  instances  of  a  similar  kind 
which  we  meet  with  in  the  natural,  vegetable  or  ani- 
mal creation.  But  when  we  see  this  class  of  people 
scattered  among  all  nations,  and  rising  in  numbers  to 
the  importance,  were  they  assembled  together,  of 
forming  a  very  considerable  community,  we  cannot 
but  suppose  that  they  sustain  a  connection  with  the 
rest  of  our  species,  which,  although  yet  enveloped  in 
obscurity,  may,  at  some  future  period,  be  found  to 
possess  its  clue  influence  upon  the  progress,  which 
revelation  teaches  us  the  events  of  our  world  are 
making  towards  the  final  consummation  of  peace  and 
happiness  through  all  the  tribes  of  man.  May  I  tres- 
pass a  little  on  your  patience,  while  I  state,  in  a  very 
concise  manner,  some  points  of  view  in  which  I  have 
thought  this  mystery  of  providence  might  be  eluci- 
dated ;  in  doing  which,  I  am  free  to  confess,  I  shall 
deem  myself  happy,  can  I  thus  succeed,  even  by  mere 
speculation,  to  increase  the  interest  which  you  already 
feel  towards  these  objects  of  your  regard. 

Their  condition  affords  a  new  field  for  benevolent 
exertion ;  and  it,  doubtless,  was  intended  by  Provi- 
dence, to  test  the  charity  of  those  on  whom  superior 
blessings  are  bestowed.  Were  there  no  wretchedness 
in  the  world,  there  could  be  no  pity ;  were  there  no 
suffering,  there  could  be  no  compassion ;  were  there 


166  LIFE  AND    LABORS   OF 

no  want,  there  could  be  no  charity.  Besides,  we  learn 
almost  every  thing  by  contrast.  The  buds  of  spring 
look  twice  lovely  as  we  remember  the  dreary  desola- 
tion of  winter.  The  sun  sheds  his  brightest  beams 
on  the  captive  emerging  from  his  dungeon.  We  hail 
the  return  of  peace  with  transport,  because  the  horrors 
of  war  have  scarcely  ceased  to  terrify  the  imagination, 
and  even  moral  excellence  derives  part  of  its  worth 
from  its  opposition  to  sin.  Xow,  by  the  introduction 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb  among  us,  God  may  design  both 
to  test  and  exercise  our  charity,  and  to  afford  us,  by 
contrast,  a  striking  illustration  of  the  value  of  those 
faculties  of  hearing  and  speech  which  we  enjoy.  Let 
us  improve  this  lesson,  and  avoid  that  severe  condem- 
nation which  we  must  meet,  should  these  fettered 
minds  at  last  rise  up  in  judgment  against  us. 

But  can  the  condition  of  these  persons  be  made 
subservient,  in  any  more  direct  way,  to  the  good  of 
mankind  ?  I  am  inclined  to  think  so,  unless,  indeed, 
enthusiasm  in  a  favorite  pursuit  may  have  taken  the 
place  of  sober  judgment. 

We  cannot  influence  man,  unless  we  know  what 
man  is.  We  cannot  make  any  successful  efforts  in 
improving  the  human  mind,  without  well  understand- 
ing its  powers  and  faculties,  and  the  modes  of  their 
development  and  operation.  To  what  is  education,  in 
its  thousand  branches ;  to  what  is  government,  with 
its  various  restraints ;  to  what  is  religion,  with  its 
tremendous  sanctions,  directed?  All  to  one  and  the 
same  object ;  to  the  mind  of  man — to  the  immaterial 
and  immortal  principle  within  us.  And  how  are  edu- 
cation, government  and  religion  to  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  mind,  if  you  know  not  what  this  mind  is  ? 


RET.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  167 

Of  what  use  are  all  the  improvements  in  agriculture, 
to  the  farmer  who  is  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  the  soil 
which  he  intends  to  cultivate,  or  rather,  how  would 
these  improvements  ever  have  been  made,  if  all  had 
been  alike  thus  ignorant?  The  philosophy  of  the 
mind,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  termed,  by  way  of  re- 
proach, metaphysics,  though,  if  you  w^ould  call  it  by 
a  more  popular  name,  the  study  of  human  nature,  it 
would  pass  very  well  in  the  world — this  philosophy 
of  the  mind,  if  pursued  upon  the  sure  principle  of 
actual  observation  and  experiment,  is  no  chimera. 

Apply  it  to  one  single  subject ;  that  of  education. 
What  is  education  ?  It  is  that  gradual  process  by 
which,  with  those  helps  which  the  ingenuity  of  man 
has  invented,  the  faculties  of  the  mind  and  heart  are 
developed,  and  strengthened,  and  prepared  for  exer- 
cise, and  the  memory  furnished  with  useful  knowledge. 
Now,  the  better  this  mind  is  understood ;  what  are  its 
strictly  natural,  and  what  its  acquired  powers,  and 
how  these  powers  expand  and  act,  with  astonishing 
variety,  in  different  individuals :  the  more  easily  can 
the  various  modes  of  study  be  applied  and  accommo- 
dated to  all  the  diversities  of  human  intellect,  and  the 
sooner  shall  we  arrive  at  the  discovery  of  those  general 
principles  of  education  which  will  accomplish  the 
grand  object  to  be  effected  in  the  surest  and  most 
expeditious  way.  That  these  principles  are  yet  sus- 
ceptible of  vast  improvement,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
The  present  day  is  teeming  with  wonders  on  this  sub- 
ject. What  would  a  Roman  philosopher  say,  could 
he  witness  the  facility  with  which  the  science  of  num- 
bers is  now  taught,  compared  with  the  rude  and 
laborious  process  through  which  he  had   to  pass,  to 


168  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

acquire,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  about  as  much 
dexterity  in  the  use  of  figures,  as  most  of  our  youth 
at  common  schools  now  possess  ?  And  the  same  is 
true  of  various  other  departments  of  education.  But 
much  remains  to  be  done.  If  I  mistake  not,  sim- 
plicity, method,  and  the  abandonment  of  a  great  deal 
of  the  unintelligible  jargon  of  the  schools,  which 
nothing  but  long  use  has  rendered  sacred,  will  make 
that  delightful  to  the  youthful  mind  which  is  now  irk- 
some, and  that  comparatively  easy  which  is  now  diffi- 
cult. But  all  this  can  only  be  effected  by  a  patient 
course  of  experiment,  and  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the 
human  mind. 

Perhaps  there  are  no  circumstances  under  which 
the  mind  is  placed,  more  singularly  propitious  for  such 
experiments  and  analyses,  than  those  in  which  we  find 
an  untaught  deaf  and  dumb  person.  He  is  as  nearly 
the  child  of  nature  as  we  can  ever  hope  to  find  one. 
And  possibly  the  simplicity  and  patience  with  which 
he  must  be  taught,  the  absolute  intelligibility  which 
must  illuminate  every  step  that  is  taken  in  his  educa- 
tion, and  the  singular  and  interesting  aspects  under 
which  his  mind  is  continually  presenting  itself,  may 
furnish  a  course  of  observations  and  experiments 
which  will  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the  edu- 
cation of  those  who  are  in  possession  of  all  their 
faculties.  At  any  rate  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  we 
may  thus  be  indebted  to  these  very  children  of  mis- 
fortune, for  some  of  the  future  benefits  which  our 
youth  may  enjoy  in  the  task  of  acquiring  knowledge. 

I  forbear  to  touch  upon  some  other  topics  con- 
nected with  this  subject,  lest  I  should  too  long  deprive 
you  of  what  I  cannot  but  hope  will  recommend  itself 


KEV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  169 

to  the  best  affections  of  your  hearts — the  spectacle  of 
a  number  of  immortal  minds,  yesterday,  as  it  were, 
buried  in  the  profoundest  shades  of  ignorance,  but 
now,  through  the  blessing  of  that  Providence  which 
so  kindly  tempers  the  wind  to  the  lambs  of  the  flock, 
led  forth  to  the  green  pastures  and  living  streams  of 
knowledge,  both  human  and  divine.  May  they  often 
find  an  interest  in  your  prayers,  that  they  may  be  led, 
too,  to  that  Savior  in  whose  heavenly  presence  all 
sorrow,  and  sin,  and  imperfection  will  cease  for  ever." 

I  have  already  said  that  Mr.  Gallaudet's  unremitting 
labor,  as  a  teacher  in  the  Asylum,  together  with  the 
out-door  work  and  increasing  responsibility,  which 
its  growth  devolved  upon  him  as  its  principal,  were 
too  much  for  his  physical  constitution.  While  "  the 
spirit  was  willing,  the  flesh  was  weak."  His  corres- 
pondence shows,  that  he  felt  the  burden  more  and 
more  from  year  to  year,  and  he  would  have  retired  a 
good  deal  sooner  than  he  did,  if  he  could  have  seen 
his  way  clear  to  ask  for  a  release. 

Other  more  lucrative  and  less  onerous  services 
awaited  his  resignation,  but  his  strong  paternal  love 
for  the  Asylum  prevailed  over  all  personal  consid- 
erations and  kept  him  at  his  post,  till  at  length,  though 
not  till  he  had  borne  the  heat  and  burden  of  the 
day  for  twelve  years,  a  sense  of  duty  to  himself, 
to  his  family,  and  to  the  Institution,  constrained  him 
to  tender  his  resignation  to  the  Board  on  the  25th  of 
April  1830,  and  it  was  accepted. 

This  brings  the  memoir  down  to  that  date,  including 
the  first,  the  most  laborious,  and  the  most  important 
period  of  his  public  services,  teeming,  as  we  have  seen, 
8 


170  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

with  the  most  ample  proofs  of  the  ability  and  zeal 
with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  great  mission 
in  this  new  department  of  Christian  philanthropy. 

But  though  he  left  "  his  first  love,"  he  could  never 
forget  it,  amid  all  the  cares  and  labors  of  all  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life.  He  kept  his  eye  and  his 
heart  fixed  upon  the  Asylum,  rejoiced  in  its  prosperity, 
and  from  time  to  time  furnished  able  papers  to  the 
periodicals  devoted  to  the  cause  of  deaf-mute  education, 
which  he  bad  done  more  than  any  other  man  in  the 
country  to  inaugurate  and  establish.  Two  or  three 
of  these  papers,  which  appeared  at  a  much  later  date  in 
the  "Annals  of  the  Education  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb," 
are  so  exceedingly  interesting  and  instructive,  that  I 
could  not  excuse  myself,  were  I  to  deny  them  a  prom- 
inent insertion  in  this  life  of  the  Author. 

The  first  is,  On  the  Natural  Language  of  Signs; 
and  its  Value  and  Uses  in  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb. 

"  There  is  scarcely  a  more  interesting  sight  than  a 
bright,  cheerful  deaf  mute,  of  one  or  two  years  of  age, 
in  a  family  composed  of  an  intelligent,  feeling,  father 
and  mother,  and  group  of  older  brothers  and  sisters  who 
can  hear  and  speak.  The  strangeness  of  his  condition, 
from  the  first  moment  of  their  discovering  it,  has 
attracted  their  curiosity.  They  wonder  at  it.  They 
sympathize  with  it.  Perhaps  they  lament  over  it. 
By  degrees,  they  become  familiar  with  it.  They  feel 
a  peculiar  attachment  to  this  object  of  their  regard. 
They  do  all  which  their  love  and  ingenuity  can  invent, 
to  make  him  happy.  They  rejoice  to  see,  that  he 
seems  more  and  more  to  understand  and  appreciate 
what  they  say  to  him,  and  do  for  him. 


KEY.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  171 

But  the  greatest  delight  is  yet  to  come.  He  is 
constantly  struggling  to  make  his  wants  and  wishes 
known,  and  to  convey  his  thoughts  and  emotions 
to  those  around  him,  by  those  various  expressions  of 
countenance,  and  descriptive  signs  and  gestures,  which 
his  own  spontaneous  feelings  lead  him  to  employ. 
His  originality  and  skill  in  doing  this ;  his  talking- 
eye  and  face ;  his  graphic  and  beautiful  pantomime ; 
his  occasional  pleasant  mimicry ;  his  gladsome  sat- 
isfaction when  he  finds  that  he  has  made  himself 
understood ;  his  constant  and  rapid  progress  in  this 
singular  language  which  nature  has  taught  him,  and 
which  is  the  only  one  as  yet  adapted  to  his  isolated 
condition;  the  gradual  developement  of  his  intel- 
lectual and  moral  powers,  the  greater  and  greater  ease 
with  which  the  members  of  the  family,  he  being  the 
the  teacher  and  they  the  pupils  in  this  novel  mode 
of  intercourse,  find  that  they  can  communicate  with 
him  ;  and  the  increasing  stores  of  useful  knowledge 
which  he  is  thus  accumulating,  all  conspire  to  throw  an 
interest,  and  even  charm  over  such  family  scenes,  of 
which  those  who  have  not  participated  in  them  can 
form  but  a  faint  conception. 

The  wind  has  been  kindly  tempered  to  the  shorn 
lamb.  The  great  principle  of  compensation  has  been 
effectually  at  work.  Much  substantial  good  has  come 
out  of  apparent  evil,  and  we  feel  almost  constrained 
to  conclude  that  one  deaf-mute  child  in  such  a  family, 
taking  into  account  the  spring  which  is  thus  imparted 
to  the  inventive  powers  of  their  minds,  and  the  kind- 
liest charities  of  their  hearts,  with  the  acquisition  by 
all  of  a  novel,  highly  poetical,  and  singularly  des- 
criptive language,  adapted  as  well  to  spiritual  as  to 


172  LIFE   AND   LABOKS   OF 

material  objects,  and  bringing  kindred  souls  into  a 
much  more  close  and  conscious  communion  than  that 
of  speech  can  possibly  do,  is  to  be  regarded  rather 
in  the  light  of  a  blessing  than  of  a  misfortune. 

It  would  be  a  grievous  misfortune,  however,  if 
one  redeeming  principle  had  not  been  at  work,  the 
natural,  spontaneous  facility  with  which  the  deaf- 
mute  child  is  able  to  make  his  thoughts  and  feelings 
known  to  those  around  him  by  the  expressions  of  his 
countenance  and  appropriate  signs  and  gestures  ;  and 
if  those  around,  them,  especially  the  mother  and  the 
younger  members  of  the  family,  were  not  capable  of 
easily  understanding  this  language  of  the  deaf-mute, 
and  of  rapidly  learning  it  from  him,  and  being  able, 
in  their  turn,  to  use  it. 

This  natural  language  of  signs,  spontaneously  em- 
ployed by  the  deaf-mute,  and  gradually  enlarged  and 
rendered  more  and  more  accurately  descriptive  by 
himself,  and  sometimes  by  the  ingenuity  also,  of  the 
members  of  the  family,  develops  itself  with  a  re- 
markable similarity  of  features  in  all  such  families. 
Its  similarity  is  so  great,  that  two  uneducated  deaf- 
mutes,  who  have  never  had  any  intercourse  with 
others  in  a  similar  condition,  can,  at  their  first  inter- 
view, communicate  with  each  other,  on  a  considerable 
number  of  common  subjects.  Let  them  be  together 
a  few  days,  or  weeks,  and  the  freedom  and  extent 
of  this  communication  will  be  found  to  be  constantly 
increasing,  as  they  become  familiar  which  each  other's 
somewhat  peculiar  and  dialectic  modes  of  expression. 
They  will  be  found,  too,  constantly  and  readily  re- 
sorting to  explanations  and  illustrations  by  the  lan- 
guage of  signs,  and  even  to  the  invention  of  new  ones, 


REV.    TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  173 

by  wliicli  to  convey  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  which 
prove  to  be,  at  last,  perfectly  intelligible. 

The  universality  of  this  natural  language  of  signs 
is  manifested  also,  in  the  striking  fact  that  the  in- 
structors of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  who  have  become 
familiar,  by  their  habitual  and  long  continued  inter- 
course with  their  pupils,  with  this  language  in  all  its 
varieties  and  peculiarities,  find  it  easy,  as  they  meet, 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  with  the  uneducated 
deaf  and  dumb,  to  converse  with  them  on  a  consider- 
able range  of  common  subjects.  The  writer  of  this 
article  some  years  ago,  was  requested,  with  a  fellow 
laborer  of  his,  at  the  time,  in  the  American  Asylum, 
to  visit  a  deaf-mute  in  a  neighboring  town,  about 
eighty  years  of  age,  possessed  of  some  property, 
and  desirous  of  making  a  will.  He  could  not 
read,  nor  write,  nor  use  the  manual  alphabet.  He 
had  no  way  of  communicating  his  ideas  but  by 
natural  signs.  By  means  of  such  signs,  exhibit- 
ing a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the 
old  man,  myself  and  companion  were  able  to  under- 
stand definitely  the  disposition  which  he  wished  to 
make  of  his  property  among  his  relatives  and  friends, 
and  thus  to  enable  him  to  carry  his  views  into  effect 
under  the  sanction  of  law. 

There  is  still  another  illustration  of  the  univer- 
sality of  this  natural  language  of  signs  in  the  immediate 
facility  which  which  an  intelligent,  uneducated  deaf 
mute,  arriving  at  the  Asylum,  is  always  found  to  hold 
communication  with  its  inmates.  After  a  short  resi- 
dence in  the  family,  he  makes  rapid  progress  in  this 
natural  language  of  signs,  enlarged  as  it  is,  by  culture, 
into  greater   copiousness,  and  marked  by  more  pre- 


174  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

cision  and  accuracy,  than  in  those  detached  families 
throughout  the  country  in  which  isolated  deaf  mutes 
exist ;  and  improved  into  a  somewhat  regular  system  by 
the  skill  of  'those  who  have  been  engaged,  for  a  long 
course  of  years,  in  this  department  of  education.  Yet 
it  retains  its  original  features.  It  is  not  an  arbitrary, 
conventional  language.  It  is,  in  the  main,  picture- 
like and  symbolical,  corresponding,  in  these  respects, 
to  the  ideas  and  objects  which  is  used  to  denote.  The 
newly  arrived  deaf-mute  has  been  well  acquainted 
with  its  elements  in  the  home  of  his  childhood.  He 
recognizes  them  as  the  same  which  constituted  the 
basis  of  those  very  signs  which  he,  and  others  around 
him,  have  already  invented  and  used,  and  sometimes 
they  prove  to  be  identically  the  same  with  his  old 
ones,  or  so  nearly  so  that  they  are  at  once  intelligible 
to  him.  He  finds  himself,  as  it  were,  among  his 
countrymen.  They  use  his  native  language,  more 
copious,  indeed,  and  elevated  than  that  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed,  but  yet  virtually  the  same: 
so  that,  perceiving  at  the  outset  that  he  understands 
others,  and  that  they  understand  him,  he  is  encouraged 
to  proceed,  and,  to  his  surprise,  in  a  comparatively 
short  space  of  time,  slides  into  a  familiar  acquaintance 
with  the  language  of  natural  signs,  in  its  full  extent, 
as  employed  by  the  more  advanced  pupils,  and  by  the 
instructors  themselves,  in  the  little  community  of 
which  he  has  become  a  member.  - 

The  contentment  which  this  throws  around  his 
new  lot,  removed  as  he  is  from  the  endearments  of 
his  native  home ;  the  pleasure  which  he  derives  from 
the  acquisition  that  he  is  constantly  making  in  the 
varieties  of  a  more  enlarged  medium  of  social  inter- 


EEV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  175 

course  adapted  to  his  peculiar  condition,  and  of 
interesting  and  useful  knowledge  from  his  better  in- 
structed associates,  and  from  the  teachers  ;  the  delight- 
ful consciousness  of  his  expanding  powers  of  thought 
and  feeling  ;  the  hope  of  future  progress ;  and  the 
ability,  all  the  while,  to  make  his  wants  and  wishes 
known,  and  thus  to  obtain  sympathy,  counsel,  and 
aid ;  all  these  things  go  not  only  to  show  what  the 
natural  language  of  signs  is,  a  much,  more  definite, 
copious,  and  effective  language  than  many  may  sup- 
pose it  to  be,  but  to  prove  and  illustrate  its  immense 
value  to  the  deaf  and  -dumb,  especially  to  those  who 
have  just  arrived  at  an  institution  for  their  benefit, 
and  are  commencing  the  course  of  instruction,  and  to 
those,  too,  who  are  concerned  in  giving  this  instruction. 

To  show  how  nature,  where  a  necessity  exists, 
prompts  to  the  invention  and  use  of  this  language  of 
signs,  and  to  exhibit  from  another  interesting  point  of 
view,  the  features  of  its  universality,  a  fact  worth, 
mentioning  is  to  be  found  in  Major  Stephen  H.  Long's 
Account  of  an  Expedition  from  Pittsburgh  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  1819.  It  seems,  from  what  he 
tells  us,  that  the  aboriginal  Indians,  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, consist  of  different  tribes,  having  either  differ- 
ent languages,  or  dialects  of  the  same  language.  Some 
are  unable  to  communicate  with  others  by  speech  ; 
while  they  have  fallen  into  a  language  of  signs  to 
remedy  this  inconvenience,  which  has  been  long  used 
among  them. 

Major  Long's  work  contains  an  accurate  description 
of  many  of  these  signs,  and  it  is  surprising  to  notice, 
how  not  a  few  of  them  are  almost  identically  the  same 
with  those  which  the  deaf  and  dumb  employ  to  describe 


176  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

the  same  things,  while  others  have  such  general  feat- 
ures of  resemblance  as  to  show  that  they  originate  from 
elements  of  this  sign-language  which  nature  furnishes 
to  man  wherever  he  is  found,  whether  barbarous  or 
civilized.     Such  are  the  following : 
Sun. — The  forefinger  and  thumb  are  brought  together 
at  tip,  so  as  to  form  a  circle,  and  held  upwards  to- 
wards the  sun's  track.     To  indicate  any  particular 
time  of  the  daj7,  the  hand  with  the  sign  of  the  sun 
is  stretched  out  towards  the  east  horizon,  and  then 
gradually  elevated,  to  show  the  ascent  of  that  lumi- 
nary, until  the  hand  arrives  in  the  proper  direction 
to  indicate  the  part  of  the  heavens  in  which  the  sun 
will  be  at  the  given  time. 
Moon. — The  thumb  and  finger  open  are  elevated  to- 
wards the  right  ear.     This  last  sign  is  generally  pre- 
ceded by  the  sign  of  the  night  or  darkness. 
Seeing. — The  forefinger,  in  the  attitude  of  pointing,  is 
passed  from  the  eye  towards  the  real  or  imaginary 
object. 
Theft. — The  left  forearm  is  held  horizontally,  a  little 
forward  of  across  the  body,  and  the  right  hand  pass- 
ing under  it  with  a  quick  motion,  seems  to  grasp 
something,  and  is  suddenly  withdrawn. 
Truth. — The   forefinger  is  passed,   in  the  attitude  of 
pointing,  from  the  mouth  forward  in  a  line  curving 
a  little  upward,  the  thumb  and  other  fingers  being 
completely  closed. 
Love. — The  clenched  hand  is  pressed  hard  upon  the 

breast. 
Now,  or  at  present. — The  two  hands,  forming  each  a 
hollow,  are  brought  near  each  other,  and  put  in  a 
tremulous  motion  upwards  and  downwards. 


KEY.  THOS.   11.  c  all  audi:  r.  177 

Done,  or  finished. — The  hands  are  placed,  edge  up  and 

down,  parallel  to  eaeli  other,  the  right  hand  without; 

whieh  latter  is  drawn  back  as  if  cutting  something. 

The  extent  to  which  these  natural  signs  should  be 
encouraged  and  made  use  of  in  this  process,  is  a  ques- 
tion about  which  there  exists  considerable  diversity  of 
views,  especially  in  Europe,  among  the  various  schools, 
and  among  teachers  whose  talents  and  experience  enti- 
tle their  respective  opinions  to  much  weight. 

My  object  is  not  to  discuss  this  question  of  extent 
(though  I  may  touch  upon  it  as  I  go  along),  but  to 
show  the  intrinsic  value,  and,  indeed,  indispensable 
necessity  of  the  use  of  natural  signs  in  the  education 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb  ;  to  a  great  degree  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  their  education,  and,  in  some  degree,  through 
the  whole  course  of  it.  In  attempting  this,  I  wish  I 
had  time  to  go,  somewhat  at  length,  into  the  genius  of 
this  natural  language  of  signs ;  to  compare  it  with 
merely  oral  language  ;  and  to  show,  as  I  think  I  could, 
its  decided  superiority  over  the  latter,  so  far  as  respects 
its  peculiar  adaptation  to  the  mind  of  childhood  and 
early  youth,  when  objects  addressed  to  the  senses,  and 
especially  to  the  sight,  have  such  sway  over  this  mind ; 
when  the  expressions  of  the  human  countenance,  with 
the  general  air  and  manners,  attitudes  and  movements 
of  the  body,  are  so  closely  scrutinized  by  the  young 
observer,  while  he  receives  from  these  sources  some  of 
the  deepest  and  most  lasting  impressions  that  are  ever 
made  on  his  intellect  and  heart';  and  when  his  first 
understanding  of  the  meaning  of  words,  singly,  or  in 
short  colloquial  phrases,  which  he  hears  uttered,  de- 
pends so  much  on  the  unfolding  of  this  meaning  by 
objects,  or  combinations  of  objects  and  circumstances 
8* 


178  LTFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

addressed  solely  to  his  eye.  The  natural  language  of 
signs  is  abundantly  capable  of  either  portraying  or  re- 
calling these  objects  and  circumstances.  The  life, 
picture-like  delineation,  pantomimic  spirit,  variety,  and 
grace  with  which  this  may  be  done,  with  the  transpar- 
ent beaming  forth  of  the  soul  of  him  who  communi- 
cates, through  the  eye,  the  countenance,  the  attitudes, 
movements,  and  gestures  of  the  body,  to  the  youthful 
mind  that  receives  the  communication,  constitutes  a 
visual  language  which  has  a  charm  for  such  a  mind, 
and  a  perspicuity,  too,  for  such  a  purpose,  that  merely 
oral  language  does  not  possess. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  much  more  of  this 
visual  language  does  not  accompany  the  oral,  in  the 
domestic  circle,  and,  indeed,  in  all  our  social  inter- 
course. Our  public  speakers  often  show  the  want  of 
it,  in  their  unimpassioned  looks,  frigid,  monotonous 
attitude,  and  quiescent  limbs,  even  when  they  are  utter- 
ing the  most  eloquent  and  soul-stirring  thoughts. 
Would  they  but  look  out  and  act  out  these  thoughts,  as 
well  as  speak  them,  how  much  greater  power  their  elo- 
quence would  have !  AVhy  has  the  Creator  furnished 
us  with  such  an  elaborate  and  wonderful  apparatus  of 
nerves  and  muscles,  to  subserve  the  purposes  of  this 
visual  language ;  with  such  an  eye  and  countenance, 
as  variable  in  their  expressions  as  are  all  the  internal 
workings  of  the  soul,  and  graphically  indicative  of 
them  ;  and  with  such  a  versatility  of  attitude  and  ges- 
ture, susceptible  of  being  'known  and  read  of  all  men,' 
thus  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  our  oral  intercourse, 
and  to  perfect  the  communion  of  one  soul  with  another, 
if  we  are  to  make  no  more  use  of  these  things  than  if 
we  were  so  many  colorless  and  motionless  statues  ?    If 


EEV.    TIIOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  179 

tliis  visual  language  were  vastly  more  cultivated  than 
it  is,  and  employed  in  the  early  training  of  children  and 
youth  in  our  families,  schools,  and  other  seminaries  of 
learning,  we  should  find  its  happy  results  in  all  the 
processes  of  education ;  on  all  occasions  where  the  per- 
suasions of  eloquence  are  employed,  and  in  the  higher 
zest  which  would  be  given  to  the  enjoyments  of  social 
life.  As  a  people,  especially  in  New  England,  we 
ought  to  be  sensible  of  our  deficiency  in  this  respect, 
and  labor  to  remove  it.  TVe  have  latent  enthusiasm 
enough  to  do  this,  but  we  have  so  long  kept  it  under 
restraint,  as  if  we  were  too  fearful  or  too  cautious  to 
look,  move,  and  act  as  we  think  and  feel,  that  we  need 
strong  convictions  of  the  judgment,  and  a  course  of 
persevering  effort  to  break  up  the  inveteracy  of  the 
habit.  Let  us  begin  in  our  intercourse  with  children 
and  youth,  and  lead  them,  by  our  example,  to  have 
the  soul  speak  out  freely  in  their  looks  and  movements, 
and  more  than  half  the  work  will  be  done. 

Most  happily  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  God  of 
nature  has  laid  a  necessity  upon  them  to  employ,  as 
soon  as  they  have  wants  and  desires  to  express,  this 
visual  language,  and  to  enlarge  and  improve  it  as  their 
wants  and  desires  expand.  It  is  an  unwise  attempt, 
which  some  have  made,  to  endeavor  to  check  their  pro- 
pensity to  do  this  in  their  childhood,  if,  indeed,  it  is 
possible  to  check  it.  It  is  cruel  to  try  to  take  from 
them  this  spontaneous  and  ready  means  of  intelligible 
intercourse,  to  a  great  extent,  with  those  around  them,  of 
the  development  of  their  intellectual  and  moral  faculties, 
and  of  the  pleasure  which  they  feel  in  this  constant  exer- 
cise of  their  inventive  powers,  and  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  being  able  to  overcome,  in  no  small  degree,  the 


180  LIFE   AND    LABOES  OF 

difficulties  of  their  peculiar  condition,  and  to  help  raise 
themselves  to  the  dignity  and  delight  of  social  exist- 
ence. I  would  as  soon  think  of  tying  the  wings  of  the 
young  lark  that  is  making  its  first,  aspiring  essays  to 
fly  upward,  and  soar  in  the  ethereal  expanse. 

I  know  it  has  been  maintained  that  this  natural 
language  of  signs,  if  cultivated  in  the  childhood  and 
earlier  instruction  of  the  deaf-mute,  will  retard  his 
acquisition  of  written  and  printed  language ;  of  useful 
knowledge ;  and,  if  he  should  prove  to  be  capable  of 
acquiring  it  (which  is  far  from  being  the  case  in  the 
most  numerous  instances),  of  the  ability  to  articulate 
intelligibly  for  the  purposes  of  promiscuous  conver- 
sation, and  to  understand,  by  the  eye,  what  is  spoken 
to  him  by  others.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  this 
visual  language,  absolutely  essential,  in  some  form 
or  other,  to  taking  successfully  the  first  steps  of 
his  education,  and  needed,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
through  the  whole  course  of  it  (if  wisely  used,  and 
kept  subordinate  when  it  ought  to  be),  is  an  important 
auxiliary  in  accomplishing  these  very  objects.  It  will 
be  used  more  or  less  by  the  deaf  and  dumb  themselves, 
do  what  you  will  to  prevent  it.  It  is  used,  more  or 
less,  in  the  actual  process  of  instruction,  sometimes  of 
design,  and  sometimes  involuntarily,  by  those  who,  in 
theory,  decry  it  the  most.  As  I  have  already  said,  the 
only  true  question  concerning  its  value  and  use,  is  that 
of  the  extent  to  which  it  ought  to  be  employed. 

The  great  value  of  this  visual  language  of  natural 
signs,  manifested  by  the  countenance,  and  the  attitudes, 
movements,  and  gestures  of  the  body,  in  the  education 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  will  appear,  if  we  consider,  as  I 
now  propose  to  do,  some  of  its  other  uses. 


REV.    THOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  i  8  L 

How  can  the  deaf-mute  in  the  family  and  the  school 
be  brought  under  a  wholesome  government  and  disci- 
pline without  it  ?  Moral  influence  is  the  great  instru- 
ment to  be  used  in  this  government  and  discipline.  The 
conscience  is  to  be  addressed  and  enlightened ;  the  right 
and  the  wrong  to  be  unfolded  and  made  clear  to  the 
mind ;  a  knowledge  of  those  simple  truths  which  affect 
our  character  and  conduct  to  be  conveyed  to  him  who 
is,  as  yet,  so  ignorant  of  them.  The  blessings  that  attend 
virtue,  and  the  evils  of  vice,  are  to  be  portrayed.  Mo- 
tives are  to  be  presented.  An  enlightened  self-interest 
is  to  be  awakened  ;  a  laudable  ambition  to  be  excited ; 
hope  to  be  enkindled ;  and,  sometimes,  fear  to  be 
aroused.  Nay,  the  sanctions  of  religion  must  be  em- 
ployed to  complete  the  work.  For  the  deaf-mute  has 
his  religious  susceptibilities,  implanted  in  his  moral 
constitution  by  the  Author  of  it,  as  well  as  other  chil- 
dren. To  feel  and  act  entirely  right,  so  as  to  secure 
the  efficacy  of  a  settled  principle,  and  the  uniformity 
of  a  fixed  habit,  he  must  feel  and  act  religiously,  in  view 
of  his  relation  and  responsibility  to  God,  of  the  sanc- 
tions of  the  divine  law,  and  of  the  encouragements  of 
the  covenant  of  grace.  The  Bible,  the  Savior,  and  the 
retributions  of  the  future  world,  must  be  lights  to  shine 
upon  his  soul.  He  must  be  taught  to  pray,  to  pray 
in  secret  to  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  thus,  sensible  of 
his  dependence  and  weakness,  to  look  above  for  wis- 
dom, strength,  and  grace  to  aid  him  in  being  and  doing 
right.  This  moral  influence,  too,  must  reach  him  as  a 
social,  religious  being.  He  must  feel  it  in  common 
with  others  of  the  community  to  which  he  belongs. 
Its  effect  on  us  all  is  greatly  enhanced  by  thus  feeling 
it.     Family  and  social  worship,  and  the  services  of  the 


182  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

sanctuary,  bear  witness  to  this  truth.  What  would  be- 
come of  the  laws  of  God,  and  of  the  laws  of  man,  of 
the  good  order,  or  even  the  very  existence  of  society, 
if  men  did  not  come  together  to  bow  before  their  com- 
mon Lord,  and  collectively  to  learn  his  will,  their  rela- 
tions to  him  and  to  each  other,  and  their  duty  ?  These 
principles  should  be  recognized  more  distinctly,  and 
carried  into  effect  more  faithfully  than  they  are,  in  the 
education  of  all  our  children  and  youth.  They  apply 
with  peculiar  force  to  deaf-mutes,  and  to  the  schools  in 
which  they  are  gathered.  When  carried  out  judi- 
ciously, they  render  the  management  of  such  schools 
comparatively  easy  and  delightful. 

This  aggregate  moral  influence,  which  I  have  thus 
described,  cannot  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  youth- 
ful mind  without  language,  and  a  language  intelligible 
to  such  a  mind.  There  must  be  teacher  and  learner ; 
one  who  addresses,  and  one  who  is  addressed.  There 
must  be  a  suitable  medium  of  communication  between 
these  two  minds,  a  common  language  which  both  un- 
derstand. For,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that,  in  order 
to  exercise  a  successful  moral  influence  over  the  child, 
in  his  government  and  discipline,  so  as  to  lead  him  to 
do  right  of  choice,  and  with  a  hearty  good  will,  his 
confidence  in  his  guide  and  governor  must  be  secured. 
In  cultivating  this  confidence,  he  must  often  be  listened 
to  patiently  by  the  parent  and  teacher.  He  will  have 
his  questions  to  ask,  his  inquiries  to  make,  his  doubts 
and  difficulties  to  state,  that  he  may  fully  understand 
and  feel  what  his  duty  is,  and  sometimes  his  excuses 
and  extenuations  to  give,  that  he  may  escape  blame 
when  he  does  not  deserve  it.  Collisions  of  feeling 
and  of  interest  will  arise  between  him  and  his  fellows. 


REV.    TirOS.    n.    GALLAUDET.  183 

Eights,  on  the  one  side  or  on  the  other,  have  been 
assailed,  or  wrongs  inflicted.  Each  of  the  parties 
claims  the  privilege  of  stating  his  own  case.  They 
must  both  be  heard.  Facts  must  be  inquired  into, 
perhaps  witnesses  called  in.  Else,  impartial  and  strict 
justice  cannot  be  done.  And  if  it  is  not  done,  confi- 
dence is  weakened,  and  sometimes  lost,  and  authority 
by  moral  influence  paralyzed,  or  destroyed. 

Eor  all  these  purposes  the  child  must  have  a  lan- 
guage at  command,  common  to  him  and  the  teacher, 
by  which  to  make  his  thoughts  and  feelings  known. 
This  is  indispensable  to  the  exercise  of  a  wholesome 
government  and  discipline  over  him. 

In  the  exercise  of  this  government  and  discipline, 
by  a  moral  influence,  one  other  very  important  thing 
is  to  be  taken   into  account.      Moral   and  relioious 

o 

truths,  as  we  have  seen,  have  to  be  presented  by  the 
teacher  to  the  pupil.  But  the  latter  is  too  young  to 
receive  and  understand  these  truths  under  the  forms 
of  abstract  propositions.  Abstract  terms,  and  those 
of  generalization,  are  not  now  level  to  his  capacity. 
He  as  yet  thinks  in  particulars.  The  teacher  must  go 
into  particulars.  He  must  describe  individuals  as 
acting  right  or  wrong ;  state  special  cases  ;  draw  out 
detailed  circumstances ;  give  facts  graphically  and 
minutely  delineated,  in  order  to  bring  out  the  truths 
he  wishes  to  present  and  inculcate,  and  to  offer  the 
motives  which  will  have  pertinency  and  efficacy.  By 
degrees,  he  can  unfold  the  powers  of  abstraction  and 
generalization  in  the  child,  and  be  doing  his  work  in 
a  more  concise  way.  But,  at  first,  and  indeed  for-  a 
considerable  length  of  time,  he  must  patiently  take 
the  slow,  inductive   process.     It  cannot   be  hurried. 


184  LIFE   AXD    LABORS   OF 

To  conduct  this  process,  the  teacher  needs  a  language, 
common  to  him  and  the  child,  having  graphical,  de- 
lineating, and  descriptive  powers,  capable  of  particular- 
izing thought,  of  giving  to  it  a  '  local  habitation  and  a 
name.'  One  prominent  defect  in  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious training  of  children  and  youth,  consists  in  not 
regarding  these  very  obvious  and  simple  principles 
of  their  successful  instruction,  so  as  to  bring  them,  in- 
telligently and  voluntarily,  under  an  efficacious  moral 
influence.  It  is,  undoubtedly,  to  meet  this  case,  exist- 
ing, not  only  among  children  and  youth,  but  among 
thousands  of  ignorant  and  undisciplined  adult  minds, 
that  so  much  of  the  Bible  abounds  with  the  detailed 
facts  of  biography  and  history;  with  circumstantial 
descriptions  ;  with  the  results,  for  good  or  evil,  of  hu- 
man conduct ;  with  living  examples,  and  with  simple 
and  touching  parables. 

We  see,  then,  for  these  various  and  conclusive 
reasons,  the  necessity  of  a  common  language,  adequate 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  to  be  employed  by  the 
teacher  and  the  deaf  mute,  in  order  that  a  wholesome 
government  and  discipline  may  be  exercised  over  him, 
through  a  moral  influence. 

Where  shall  we  find  this  language,  or  must  we  go 
to  work  and  create  one  for  the  purpose  ?  The  deaf 
mute  cannot  hear  what  you  say  to  him.  He  can  see 
the  motions  of  your  lips,  and  organs  of  speech,  more 
or  less  distinctly,  when  you  utter  words.  But  it  is  a 
long  and  laborious  process,  even  in  the  comparatively 
few  cases  of  complete  success,  to  teach  him  to  dis- 
criminate accurately  between  the  various  motions  of 
the  organs  of  speech,  and  so  to  notice  their  combi- 
nations, as  to  know  the  words  which  are  intended  to 


REV.   THOS.    II.   GALLAUDET.  185 

be  uttered — words,  too,  which  are  useless  for  the  pur- 
pose of  intercommunication  until  their  meaning  has 
been  explained  to  him.  To  do  this,  and  to  teach  him 
the  proper  combinations  of  words,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
impart  the  most  simple  kind  of  moral  and  religious 
instruction,  is,  also,  another  long  and  laborious  pro- 
cess ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  neither  of  these 
processes  can  be  successfully  carried  on  unless  resort 
is  had  to  natural  signs. 

Then,  to  make  this  language  of  intercommunication 
complete,  as  we  have  already  seen,  for  the  purposes 
of  government  and  discipline,  the  deaf  mute  must  be 
able  to  convey  his  thoughts  and  feelings  to  the  teacher. 
Shall  he  be  fitted  to  do  this  by  being  taught  how  to 
articulate  intelligibly,  without  the  ear  to  guide  him  ? 
You  have  another  long  and  laborious  process  to  go 
through,  before,  even  in  the  few  successful  cases,  he 
can  have  a  sufficient  stock  of  words  which  he  under- 
stands, and  be  able  to  form  their  proper  combinations, 
in  order  to  furnish  him  with  an  adequate  medium  for 
thus  conveying  his  thoughts  and  feelings.  Nor  can 
this  process  be  carried  on,  as  it  ought  to  be,  without 
the  use  of  natural  signs. 

Similar  difficulties  must  arise  in  the  use  of  the 
manual  alphabet  for  spelling  words  on  the  fingers,  or 
in  presenting  written  or  printed  words  to  the  eye  of 
the  deaf  mute ;  though  it  is  true  that  these  difficulties 
will  principally  consist  in  teaching  him  the  meaning  of 
these  words,  and  their  combinations,  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  furnish  the  means  of  a  free  intercommunication 
between  him  and  the  teacher.  And  here,  again,  natural 
signs  have  their  great  value  and  necessary  uses. 


186  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

Bear  in  mind,  too,  that  this  common  language 
should  be  one  by  which,  as  has  been  shown,  the  deaf 
mute  can  intelligibly  conduct  his  private  devotions, 
and  join  in  social  religious  exercises  with  his  fellow- 
pupils.  Otherwise,  one  very  important  means  of  their 
proper  government  and  discipline  is  wanting. 

Now  even  admitting,  wrhat  I  yet  believe  to  be 
impracticable,  that,  after  very  long  and  laborious  pro- 
cesses, a  sufficient  command  of  language  can  be  ob- 
tained by  the  deaf  mute,  in  one  or  the  other  of  these 
ways  that  have  been  mentioned,  for  the  various  pur- 
poses of  his  government  and  discipline  by  moral  in- 
fluence, and  without  the  use  at  all  of  natural  signs, 
still  great  and  needless  evils  must  accrue  from  such  a 
course.  A  considerable  time  must  elapse — two  or 
three  years,  in  not  a  few  cases  more — before  the  object 
can,  in  a  good  degree,  be  accomplished.  In  the  mean- 
while, the  teacher  and  pupil  are,  at  first,  quite  destitute 
of,  and,  all  along,  sadly  deficient  in  an  adequate  me- 
dium of  intercommunication.  Under  such  embarrass- 
ments, is  there  not  a  better  way,  seasonably,  intelli- 
gibly and  effectually,  to  cultivate  the  moral  faculties 
of  the  deaf  mute,  bring  him  under  a  wholesome  moral 
influence,  and  train  him  in  the  right  way ;  to  furnish 
a  due  preparation  of  his  mind  and  heart  to  engage  in 
his  own  private  devotions,  and  to  enjoy  the  privilege 
of  social  religious  exercises  and  instruction  with  his 
fellow-pupils;  and  to  secure  a  judicious  government 
and  discipline  in  the  institutions  intended  for  his 
benefit  ? 

The  God  of  Nature  and  of  Providence  has  kindly 
furnished  the  means  of  doing  this.  The  deaf  mute 
has   already   spontaneously   used,    in   its   elementary 


RET.   THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  187 

features,  before  he  comes  to  the  school,  that  natural 
language  of  signs,  which,  improved  by  the  skill  of 
teachers,  and  current  as  a  medium  of  social  inter- 
course among  the  pupils  at  such  schools,  is  adequate 
to  the  exigency.  As  we  have  seen,  in  the  preceding 
number,  he  easily  and  quickly  becomes  acquainted 
with  this  improved  language  by  his  constant,  familiar 
intercommunication  with  the  teachers  and  his  fellow- 
pupils.  By  means  of  it  his  government  and  discipline, 
through  a  kind  moral  influence,  can  at  once  be  begun  ; 
for  he  has  a  language  common  to  him  and  his  teacher. 
Every  day  he  is  improving  in  this  language ;  and  this 
medium  of  moral  influence  is  rapidly  enlarging.  His 
mind  becomes  more  and  more  enlightened ;  his  con- 
science more  and  more  easily  addressed ;  his  heart 
more  and  more  prepared  to  be  accessible  to  the  simple 
truths  and  precepts  of  the  word  of  God.  The  affect- 
ing contents  of  that  word  arc  gradually  unfolded  to 
him.  lie  recognizes  his  relation  to  God  and  to  his 
fellow-men.  He  learns  much  of  the  divine  character, 
and  of  his  own  obligations  and  duties.  At  length,  he 
is  made  to  understand,  like  a  child,  indeed,  but  yet  to 
understand  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ. 
If  he  has  the  disposition  to  pray,  he  has  a  simple, 
beautiful  language  of  his  own,  in  which  to  address  his 
Father  in  Heaven.  He  comes,  every  morning  and 
evening,  with  his  associates,  to  be  instructed  from  the 
word  of  God,  and  to  unite  with  this  silent  assembly, 
through  the  medium  of  natural  signs,  employed  for 
both  these  purposes  by  the  teacher,  in  a  most  expres- 
sive and  touching  mode  of  worship  before  the  throne 
of  grace.  On  the  Sabbath,  he  enjoys  its  sacred  privi- 
lege?.    The  moral  influence  of  the  government  and 


188  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

discipline  of  the  institution  over  the  objects  of  its  care 
is  thus  secured,  and  rendered  permanently  efficient, 
through  the  medium  of  the  language  of  natural  signs, 
much,  very  much  sooner,  and  with  vastly  more  success, 
than  it  could  be  obtained  in  any  other  way,  if,  indeed, 
it  could  be  obtained  at  all,  to  any  effectual  purpose, 
writhout  the  use  of  this  language. 

Some,  while  reading  these  remarks,  may  hesitate, 
and  have  a  shade  of  skepticism  pass  over  their  minds, 
with  regard  to  the  competency  of  the  natural  language 
of  signs  thus  to  accomplish  the  various  objects  which 
have  been  mentioned,  in  the  moral  and  religious  train- 
ing of  the  deaf  mute,  and  in  his  government  and  dis- 
cipline. This  language  may  seem  to  them  so  simple ; 
so  limited,  in  its  narrow  range,  to  the  delineation  and 
description  of  merely  sensible  things ;  so  barren  of  all 
modes  of  expressing  what  lies  beyond  the  province 
of  sense,  within  the  human  mind  and  heart,  and  in  the 
spiritual  world,  as  to  lead  them  to  doubt  very  much 
what  the  writer  has  said  about  its  efficacy  in  these  re- 
spects, and  to  attribute  his  descriptions  of  its  genius 
and  power  to  the  ardor  of  a  professional  enthusiasm. 

He  pleads  guilty,  if  needs  be,  to  the  charge  of  this 
enthusiasm;  though  mellowed,  as  it  is,  by  advancing 
years,  and  the  lapse  of  a  considerable  portion  of  time 
since  the  vigor  of  his  manhood  was  devoted  to  the  in- 
instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  writing,  as  he 
does,  with  the  retrospective  soberness  of  one  who  re- 
traces, in  a  quiet  resting  place,  the  difficulties  and 
perplexities,  as  well  as  facilities  of  a  journey  long  ago 
taken,  his  convictions  are  as  strong  as  they  ever  were, 
that  the  deaf  and  dumb  are  themselves  the  original 
sources  of  the  fundamental  processes,  so  far  as  Ian- 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  189 

guage  is  concerned,  of  conducting  their  education,  and 
that,  in  this  case,  as  well  as  in  all  others  which  relate 
to  education  generally,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  find 
the  path  which  nature  points  out,  and  to  follow  it. 
Experience,  philosophy  and  art  may  often  do  a  great 
deal  to  remove  some  of  the  roughnesses  of  this  path, 
to  make  it  more  smooth  and  straight,  more  easily  and 
expeditiously  to  be  trod,  more  pleasant  and  delightful, 
but  it  will  not  do  to  quit  it,  else  those  whom  you 
would  lead  in  the  way  of  knowledge,  of  truth,  and  of 
duty,  will  follow  on  with  irksome  and  reluctant  steps, 
if,  indeed,  they  follow  at  all,  except  as  the  blind  do 
when  they  are  led  by  the  blind,  to  incur  the  risk,  every 
moment,  of  some  difficulty  or  danger. 

But  this  natural  language  of  signs,  comprising  the 
various  modes  which  the  God  of  Nature  has  provided 
for  one  soul  to  hold  communion  with  another,  through 
the  eye  and  countenance,  the  attitudes,  movements 
and  gestures  of  the  body,  is  by  no  means  so  limited  in 
its  powers  and  range,  as  it  might  appear  to  be  to  him 
who  has  given  it  only  a  cursory  attention,  and  who  has 
not  watched  its  practical  applications  and  results. 

In  what  relates  to  the  expression  of  passion  and 
emotion,  and  of  all  the  finer  and  stronger  sentiments 
of  the  heart,  this  language  is  eminently  appropriate 
and  copious.  Here,  without  it,  oral  language  utterly 
fails ;  while  it  alone,  without  oral  language,  often 
overwhelms  us  with  wonder  by  its  mysterious  power. 
In  this  province  its  power,  probably,  will  be  denied 
by  none.  But  the  expression  of  the  passions,  emo- 
tions and  sentiments,  constitutes  no  small  part  of  that 
common  language  which,  as  we  have  seen,  both  the 
deaf  mute  and  his  teacher  must  possess,  in  order  that 


190  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

his  moral  and  religious  training  may  be  properly  con- 
ducted, and  a  wholesome  government  and  discipline 
over  him  be  secured.  How  can  he  be  taught  the  ne- 
cessity and  the  mode  of  controlling,  directing,  and,  at 
times,  subduing  the  risings  and  movements  of  this 
sensitive  part  of  his  moral  constitution,  unless  his  at- 
tention is  turned  to  the  varieties,  character  and  results 
of  its  operations  ?  How  shall  he  be  taught,  for  in- 
stance, that  anger,  within  certain  limits,  is  sometimes 
justifiable,  while,  at  other  times,  it  has  no  redeeming 
quality,  but  is  utterly  unjustifiable  and  wrong,  unless 
this  feeling  is  brought  before  his  cognizance,  and  its 
nature  and  effects  described  ?  In  this,  as  in  other 
similar  cases,  the  natural  language  of  signs  furnishes 
the  only  thorough  and  successful  mode  of  doing  this. 
Its  necessity  and  value  will  be  fully  manifest,  if  we 
consider  what  an  important  part  of  the  moral  and 
religious  training  of  children  and  youth  consists  in 
leading  them  to  bring  their  passions,  emotions  and 
sentiments  under  the  sway  of  conscience,  enlightened 
by  the  word  of  God.  In  one  word,  the  heart  is  the 
principal  thing  which  we  must  aim  to  reach  in  the 
education  of  the  deaf  mute,  as  well  as  of  other  chil- 
dren ;  and  the  heart  claims,  as  its  peculiar  and  appro- 
priate language,  that  of  the  eye  and  countenance ; 
that  of  the  attitudes,  movements  and  gestures  of  the 
body. 

The  teacher  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  must  have  tne 
use  of  this  language,  not  only  to  convey  command 
and  precept,  but  to  enforce  both,  by  the  power  of  a  liv- 
ing example.  He  wishes  to  train  aright  the  passions, 
emotions,  and  sentiments  of  those  entrusted  to  his 
care.     He  should  strive  to  be  their  model.     But  this 


REV.    THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  191 

model  must  not  be  a  statue.  He  must  look,  act, 
move,  and  demean  himself,  at  all  times,  in  such  ways 
as  to  let  it  be  seen  that  his  is  a  soul  of  rectitude,  purity, 
and  benevolence,  swayed  by  love  to  God,  and  love  to 
man — self-denying,  patient,  kind,  and  forbearing,  and 
yet  firm,  not  only  in  obeying  himself  the  right,  but, 
in  the  exercise  of  a  lawful  authority,  requiring  others 
to  obey  it.  His  eye,  his  countenance,  his  whole  air 
and  manner,  should  be  the  spontaneous  outward  mani- 
festations of  these  inward  feelings.  The  clearness  and 
spirit  of  such  manifestations,  depend  greatly  on  the 
naturalness,  the  ease,  and  vivacity  with  which  his 
whole  physical  man  responds  to  the  inner  man  of  the 
heart.  If  he  does  not  apppreciate  the  value  of  the 
natural  language  of  signs,  if  he  does  not  cherish  and 
cultivate  it  to  the  highest  degree  of  force,  beauty,  and 
grace  which  it  is  possible  for  him  to  reach,  he  has  not 
before  him  the  true  standard  of  what  a  thoroughly 
qualified  teacher  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  should  aspire 
to  be.  He  may  speak  to  them  on  his  lips  or  fingers, 
or  address  them  on  his  black-board  or  slate ;  helping 
himself  out,  perhaps,  with  some  signs  and  gestures, 
lacking  life,  clearness,  and  grace,  and  with  an  un- 
moved and  unmoving  countenance ;  but  he  is  not  the 
one  to  succeed  as  a  guide  and  example  in  conducting 
their  moral  and  religious  education,  or  in  exercising 
a  wholesome  paternal  government  and  discipline  over 
them.  Neither  is  he  qualified  to  conduct,  in  any 
good  degree,  as  they  ought  to  be  conducted,  the  other 
processes  of  their  education. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  inquire,  how  far  these 
principles  apply  to  the  teachers  of  children  and  youth 
who  are  in  possession  of  all  their  faculties.     Hid  time 


192  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

permit,  I  would  attempt  to  show  that  they  do  thus 
apply  with  peculiar  force. 

But  somethiug  more,  it  will  be  said,  is  necessary, 
in  the  training  and  governing  of  the  deaf-mute,  than 
that  the  common  language  between  him  and  his 
teacher  should  be  sufficiently  complete  so  far  as  the 
passions,  emotions,  and  sentiments  are  concerned. 
We  have  been  told,  it  will  be  added,  that  the  teacher 
must  go  into  particulars ;  that  individuals  must  be  de- 
scribed ;  cases  stated ;  circumstances  drawn  out  in  de- 
tail ;  facts  graphically  and  minutely  delineated ;  the 
biography,  history,  and  parables  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  even  its  simple  doctrines,  and  practical  precepts 
presented  to  the  mind  of  the  pupil,  and  that  he  must 
be  prepared,  too,  to  engage  in  private  and  social  re- 
ligious exercises.  Is  the  natural  language  of  signs  suf- 
ficient for  these  things  ?     Let  us  see. 

So  far  as  objects,  motions,  or  actions  addressed  to 
the  senses  are  concerned,  this  language,  in  its  un- 
proved state,  is  superior  in  accuracy  and  force  of  de- 
lineation to  that  in  which  words  spelled  on  the  fingers, 
spoken,  written,  or  printed,  are  employed.  These 
words  consist  of  arbitrary  marks,  or  sounds,  which, 
when  put  together  in  a  certain  order,  it  is  agreed  shall 
have  a  certain  meaning.  How  do  children  originally 
acquire  the  meaning  of  these  words  ?  Does  the  shape 
or  sound  of  the  word  convey  its  meaning?  Not  at 
all.  How,  then,  is  its  meaning  acquired?  By  the 
presence  of  the  object,  motion,  or  action  which  the 
word  denotes,  addressed  to  some  one  of  the  senses  of 
the  child,  when  the  word  is  offered  to  his  notice — or 
by  some  occurring  event  in  nature,  or  in  common  life ; 
by  some  circumstance,  some  attitude,  sign,  or  gesture, 


REV.    THOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  193 

some  expression  of  countenance,  which  singly  or  to- 
gether, unfold  the  meaning.  Here  you  must  always 
go  back  as  the  starting  point;  though,  when  the 
meanings  of  a  certain  number  of  words  are  thus  ac- 
quired, they  may  be  employed,  doubtless,  to  recall 
objects  which  are  not  at  the  time  addressed  to  the 
senses,  or  even  to  describe  new  ones.  Yet  the  dements 
of  these  processes  must  always  be  found  in  things 
which  have  once  been  present  to  the  senses  of  the 
child. 

Now  even  if  the  natural  language  of  signs  were 
as  arbitrary  as  that  of  words,  there  is  no  reason  why 
it  should  not  be  as  adequate  as  that  is  to  the  purposes 
under  consideration.  If  a  certain  sign  made  with  the 
hands  is  agreed  upon,  always  to  denote  a  hook,  why  is 
not  the  sign  as  definite  and  as  available,  as  the  letters 
boo  k,  utteiyd  from  the  mouth,  spelled  on  the  fingers, 
or  written  or  printed?  But  this  language  is  far  from 
being  an  arbitrary  one.  In  its  original  features,  the 
deaf-mute  copies  nature  in  forming  it — the  shapes, 
sizes,  properties,  uses,  motions,  in  fine,  the  characteris- 
tics, addressed  to  some  one  of  his  senses,  or  sensations, 
of  the  external  objects  around  him.  And,  with  regard 
to  his  internal  thoughts,  desires,  passions,  emotions,  or 
sentiments,  he  just  lets  them  show  themselves  out, 
(in  accordance  with  the  mysterious  laws  of  the  union 
of  mind  and  body,  and  of  the  action  and  reaction  of  the 
one  upon  the  other,  spontaneously  and  freely),  through 
his  eye  and  countenance,  and  the  attitudes,  move- 
ments, and  gestures  of  his  muscular  system.  As  he 
uses  it,  it  is  a  picture-like  and  symbolical  language, 
calling  up  the  objects  and  ideas  which  it  is  designed 
to  denote,  in  a  portraying  and  suggestive  way,  which 
9 


194  LTFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

no  oral,  written,  or  printed  language  can  do.  It  ad- 
mits of  great  accuracy  and  vividness  of  description,  and 
its  simple  signs  are  susceptible  of  permutations  and 
combinations,  which  give  it  a  signifleancy,  copious- 
ness, and  fluency  admirably  adapted  to  the  purposes 
of  narrative,  and  of  moral  and  religious  instruction, 
enlarged  and  improved  as  it  has  been  by  the  efforts  of 
genius  and  skill,  and  yet  preserving,  except  in  a  de- 
gree scarcely  worth  being  mentioned,  its  original  pic- 
ture-like and  symbolical  character. 

It  is  true  that  the  genius  of  this  natural  language 
of  signs  is  most  favorable  to  the  presentation  of  truth 
by  the  gradual,  inductive  process,  and  admits,  scarcely 
at  all,  of  exhibiting  it  in  its  forms  of  abstraction  and 
generalization.  But  so  much  the  better  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  used,  the  instruction  and  moral 
training  of  minds  that  need  to  have  abstract  and 
general  truths  analyzed,  reduced  to  their  simple  ele- 
ments, and  thus  made  clear  to  their  intellect,  and  ef- 
fective on  their  heart. 

As  the  deaf-mute  advances  in  knowledge,  and  in 
his  acquaintance  with  written  and  printed  language, 
it  is,  doubtless,  important  to  employ  terms  of  abstrac- 
tion and  generalization  in  his  moral  training,  and  to 
make  less  use  of  the  natural  language  of  signs ;  but 
even  this  should  be  done  with  care,  while  this  very 
language,  for  the  most  part,  furnishes  the  best  means 
of  explaining  these  terms.  Simplicity  and  perspicuity 
of  conception,  even  when  compelled  to  express  itself 
in  particulars,  and  in  the  language  of  childhood  and 
of  unlettered  minds,  is  vastly  of  more  value  than  the 
half-formed  and  vague  notions  which,  clothed  in  ele- 
vated and  imposing  terms,  sometimes,  indeed,  chime 


REV.    TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  195 

on  the  ear,  and  excite  admiration  by  their  pompons 
swell,  but  effect  nothing  in  the  way  of  making  men 
wiser  and  better. 

That  the  natnral  language  of  signs  has  these  char- 
acteristics and  capabilities ;  that  it  is  the  very  language 
which  the  deaf-mnte  continually  needs  for  the  purposes 
of  private  and  social  devotion,  and  for  the  reception, 
certainly  in  all  the  earlier  stages  of  his  education,  of 
moral  and  religious  truth ;  and  that  it  is  indispensable 
in  the  government  and  discipline  of  persons  in  his 
condition,  the  experience  of  a  long  course  of  years  in 
the  Asylum  at  Hartford  for  their  benefit,  most  abun- 
dantly testifies. 

In  conclusion,  the  writer  would  urge  upon  the  pa- 
rents and  friends  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  in  view  of  the 
remarks  which  he  has  made,  to  encourage  the  child 
who  suffers  such  a  privation,  to  make  his  thoughts  and 
feelings  known,  as  early  and  as  fully  as  possible, 
through  the  medium  of  natural  signs  ;  and  to  acquire 
themselves,  with  the  other  members  of  the  family,  the 
use  of  this  language,  that  the  intercommunication  be- 
tween them  and  the  child  may  be  an  intelligible  and 
pleasant  one.  It  will  certainly  be  so  to  the  deaf-mute, 
and  will  become  more  and  more  so  to  those  who  are 
thus  learning  it  from  him,  as  they  perceive,  from  day 
to  day,  its  power,  its  beauty,  and  its  practical  use. 
Instead  of  throwing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  future 
progress  of  his  education  at  the  institution  to  which 
he  may  be  sent,  it  will  prove,  as  we  have  seen,  highly 
auxiliary  to  this  progress;  while,  whether  at  home, 
or  at  the  school,  it  is  an  indispensable  means  of  his 
moral  training,  and  his  judicious  government  and 
discipline. 


196  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

The  instructors,  too,  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  if  the 
principles  and  views  that  have  been  advanced  are  cor- 
rect, should  appreciate  the  great  importance  of  being 
masters  of  the  natural  language  of  signs  ;  of  excelling 
in  this  language ;  of  being  able  to  make  delineating 
and  descriptive  signs  with  graphical  and  picture-like 
accuracy ;  of  acquiring  the  power  to  have  the  inmost 
workings  of  their  souls — their  various  thoughts  and 
feelings,  with  their  fainter  and  stronger  shades  of  dis- 
tinctive character — beam  out  through  the  eye,  counte- 
nance, attitude,  movement,  and  gesture ;  and  of  doing 
all  this  with  spirit,  grace,  and  fluency,  and  for  the  love 
of  doing  it. 

The  labor  is  not  small,  indeed,  that  must  be  un- 
dergone, in  order  to  possess  these  indispensable  quali- 
fications of  an  accomplished  instructor  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb.  To  acquire  them,  the  new  and  inex- 
perienced teacher  must  consent,  carefully  and  perse- 
veringly,  to  take  lesson  after  lesson  of  the  older 
teacher  who  is  a  proficient  in  this  language ;  while  the 
older  teacher  must  have  the  patience  to  give  these 
lessons.  For,  the  language  of  natural  signs  is  not  to 
be  learned  from  books.  It  cannot  be  delineated  in 
pictures,  or  printed  on  paper.  It  must  be  learned,  in 
a  great  degree,  from  the  living,  looking,  acting  model. 
Some  of  the  finest  models,  for  such  a  purpose,  are 
found  among  the  originators  of  this  language,  the  deaf 
and  dumb.  The  peculiarities  of  their  mind  and  char- 
acter, and  the  genius  of  that  singularly  beautiful  and 
impressive  language  which  nature  has  taught  them, 
should  be  the  constant  study  of  those  whose  beneficent 
calling  it  is  to  elevate  them  in  the  scale  of  intellectual, 
social,  and  moral  existence  ;  to  fit  them  for  usefulness 


REV.   THOS,   H.    GALLAUDET.  197 

and  respectability  in  this  life,  and  for  happiness  in  that 
which  is  to  come." 

The  following  article,  entitled  Reminiscences  of  Deaf- 
mute  Instruction.,  is  copied  from  the  "Annals,"  to  which 
I  am  indebted  for  the  foregoing,  and  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
read  with  absorbing  interest  by  all  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Gallandet,  into  whose  hands  this  sketch  of  his  life  and 
labors  may  fall: 

REMINISCENCES  OF  DEAF-MUTE  INSTRUCTION. 

While  engaged  in  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and 
dnmb,  there  was  a  pupil  in  the  class  which  I  was  teach- 
ing, an  interesting  lad  of  fine  talents  and  an  ingennons 
disposition,  who,  I  noticed,  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar  tact 
in  gathering,  from  the  expressions  of  my  countenance, 
the  workings  of  my  mind.  This  led  me  to  make  some 
experiments,  to  see  to  what  extent  I  could  communi- 
cate ideas  to  him,  without  the  use  of  words  spelled  on  the 
fingers,  or  of  any  signs  or  gestures  made  by  the  arms 
and  hands,  but  simply  by  expressions  of  the  counte- 
nance, motions  of  the  head,  and  attitudes  of  the  body. 
In  doing  this,  my  principal  reliance  was  on  the  en- 
deavor to  make  my  face  the  exponent  of  my  thoughts 
and  feelings.  The  motions  of  the  head,  and  the  atti- 
tudes of  the  body,  were  the  lights  and  shades  of  the 
picture. 

He  was  quite  as  much  interested  in  these  experi- 
ments as  myself;  while  constant  progress  Avas  made, 
both  by  teacher  and  pupil,  in  this  novel  mode  of  com- 
munication. Our  success,  I  was  well  aware,  depended 
very  much  on  the  acute  and  close  attention  of  the  lad ; 
on  his  power  of  quick  perception ;  and  especially  on 


198  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

the  ingenuity  which  he  exercised  in  putting  together, 
in, their  proper  place  and  form,  the  outlines  of  thought 
which  I  gave  him,  in  discovering  the  law  of  association 
which  directed  my  mind,  and  in  supplying  those  small 
connecting  links  of  the  leading  ideas,  which  I  often 
found  it  difficult  to  furnish.  In  not  a  few  cases,  it  was 
something  like  my  giving  him  a  charade,  or  a  riddle, 
(more  clearly  and  fully  expressed,  however,  than  such 
puzzles  usually  are,)  which  he  was  to  solve.  His  fre- 
quent and  accurate  solution  of  them  was  surprising. 

He  •  had  a  finely  developed  head  and  person ;  a 
clear,  quick,  and  luminous  eye ;  and  a  countenance, 
which,  fresh  with  the  ruddy  bloom  of  youth,  spontane- 
ously and  faithfully  corresponded,  in  the  ready  play  of 
its  flexible  features,  to  the  movements  of  his  mind  and 
heart.  I  scarcely  failed  to  know  in  an  instant,  from 
his  very  look,  whether  or  not  he  had  caught  my  mean- 
ing in  the  progressive  stages  of  the  process.  If  he 
had,  I  went  on  unhesitatingly.  If  he  had  not,  I  went 
back  a  little,  endeavoring  to  clear  away  the  mist,  till  I 
found  that  it  was  dissipated,  and  that  we  were  both 
ready  to  proceed. 

Some  illustrations  of  what  we  attempted  to  do  in 
this  way,  may,  perhaps,  be  interesting  to  the  reader. 

One  day  our  distinguished  and  lamented  historical 
painter,  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  was  in  my  school-room 
during  the  hours  of  instruction,  and  on  my  alluding  to 
the  tact  which  the  pupil  referred  to  had  of  reading  my 
face,  he  expressed  a  wish  to  see  it  tried.  I  requested 
him  to  select  any  event  in  Greek,  Koman,  English,  or 
American  history,  of  a  scenic  character,  which  would 
make  a  striking  picture  on  canvas,  and  said  I  would 
endeavor  to  communicate  it  to  the  lad.     '  Tell  him' 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  199 

said  lie,  '  that  Brutus  (Lucius  Junius)  condemned  his 
two  sons  to  death  for  resisting  his  authority  and  violat- 
ing his  orders.' 

I  folded  my  arms  in  front  of  me,  and  kept  them  in 
that  position,  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  making  any 
signs  or  gestures,  or  of  spelling  any  words  on  my 
fingers,  and  proceeded,  as  best  I  could,  by  the  expres- 
sions of  my  countenance,  and  a  few  motions  of  my  own 
head  and  attitudes  of  the  body,  to  convey  the  picture 
in  my  own  mind  to  the  mind  of  my  pupil. 

It  ought  to  be  stated  that  he  was  already  acquainted 
with  the  fact,  being  familiar  with  the  leading  events  in 
Roman  history.  But  when  I  began,  he  knew  not  from 
what  portion  of  history,  sacred  or  profane,  ancient  or 
modern,  the  fact  was  selected.  From  this  wide  range, 
my  delineation  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  ingenuity  on 
the  other,  had  to  bring  it  within  the  division  of  Roman 
history,  and,  still  more  minutely,  to  the  particular  in- 
dividual transaction  designated  by  Colonel  Trumbull. 
In  carrying  on  the  process,  I  made  no  use  whatever  of 
any  arbitrary  or  conventional  look,  motion,  or  attitude, 
before  settled  between  us,  by  which  to  let  him  under- 
stand what  I  wished  to  communicate,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  single  one,  if,  indeed,  it  ought  to  be  consid- 
ered such. 

The  usual  sign  at  the  time,  among  teachers  and 
pupils,  for  a  Roman,  was  portraying  an  aquiline  nose 
by  placing  the  forefinger,  crooked,  in  front  of  the  nose. 
As  I  was  prevented  from  using  my  finger  in  this  way, 
and  having  considerable  command  over  the  muscles  of 
my  face,  I  endeavored  to  give  my  nose  as  much  of  the 
aquiline  form  as  possible,  and  succeeded  well  enough 
for  my  purpose. 


200  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

Everything  else  that  I  looked  and  did  was  the  pure, 
natural  language  by  which  my  mind  spontaneously 
endeavored  to  convey  its  thoughts  and  feelings  to  his 
mind  by  the  varied  expressions  of  the  countenance, 
some  motions  of  the  head,  and  attitudes  of  the  body. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  furnish  the  reader  anything 
like  a  complete  analysis  of  the  process  which  I  pursued 
in  making  the  communication.  To  be  understood,  it 
ought  to  be  witnessed,  and  accompanied  with  the  requi- 
site explanations.  The  outlines  of  the  process,  how- 
ever, I  can  give.     They  were  the  following : 

A  stretching  and  stretching  gaze  eastward,  with  an 
undulating  motion  of  the  head,  as  if  looking  across 
and  beyond  the  Atlantic  ocean,  to  denote  that  the 
event  happened,  not  on  the  western,  but  on  the  eastern 
continent.  This  was  making  a  little  progress,  as  it 
took  the  subject  out  of  the  range  of  American  history. 

A  turning  of  the  eyes  upward  and  backward,  with 
frequently  repeated  motions  of  the  head  backward,  as 
if  looking  a  great  way  back  in  past  time,  to  denote  that 
the  event  was  one  of  quite  ancient  date. 

The  aquiline  shape  of  the  nose,  already  referred 
to,  indicating  that  a  Roman  was  the  person  concerned. 
It  was,  of  course,  an  old  Roman. 

Portraying,  as  well  as  I  could,  by  my  countenance, 
attitude,  and  manner,  an  individual  high  in  authority, 
and  commanding  others,  as  if  he  expected  to  be 
obeyed. 

Looking  and  acting  as  if  I  were  giving  out  a  spe- 
cific order  to  many  persons,  and  threatening  punish- 
ment on  those  who  should  resist  my  authority — even 
the  punishment  of  death. 

Here  was  a  pause  in  the  progress  of  events,  which 


RWT.   TIIOS.   H.   QALLAUDET,  201 

I  denoted  by  sleeping  as  it  were  during  the  night  and 
awaking  the  morning,  and  doing  this  several  times,  to 
signify  that  several  days  had  elapsed. 

Looking  with  deep  interest  and  surprise,  as  if  at  a 
single  person  brought  and  standing  before  me,  with  an 
expression  of  countenance  indicating  that  he  had  vio- 
lated the  order  which  I  had  given,  and  that  I  knew  it. 
Then  looking  in  the  same  way  at  another  person  near 
him  as  also  guilty.  Two  offending  persons  were  thus 
denoted. 

Exhibiting  serious  deliberation — then  hesitation,  ac- 
companied with  strong  conflicting  emotions,  producing 
perturbation,  as  if  I  knew  not  how  to  feel,  or  what  to  do. 

Looking  first  at  one  of  the  persons  before  me,  and 
then  at  the  other,  and  then  at  both  together,  as  a  father 
would  look,  indicating  his  distressful  parental  feelings 
under  such  affecting  circumstances. 

Composing  my  feelings,  showing  that  a  change  was 
coming  over  me,  and  exhibiting  towards  the  imaginary 
persons  before  me,  the  decided  look  of  the  inflexible 
commander  who  was  determined  and  ready  to  order 
them  away  to  execution.  Looking  and  acting  as  if  the 
tender  and  forgiving  feelings  of  the  father  had  again 
got  the  ascendancy,  and  as  if  I  were  about  to  relent 
and  pardon  them. 

These  alternating  states  of  mind  I  portrayed  several 
times,  to  make  my  representation  the  more  graphic 
and  impressive. 

At  length  the  father  yields,  and  the  stern  principle 
of  justice,  as  expressed  in  my  countenance  and  man- 
ner, prevails.  My  look  and  action  denote  the  passing 
of  the  sentence  of  death  on  the  offenders,  and  the  or- 
dering them  away  to  execution. 
9* 


202  LIFE    AND   LABORS   OF 

Before  I  had  quite  completed  the  process,  I  per- 
ceived, from  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  and  a 
little  of  impatience  in  his  manner,  that  the  pupil  felt 
satisfied  that  he  was  fully  in  possession  of  the  fact 
which  I  was  endeavoring  to  communicate.  But  for 
the  sake  of  greater  certainty,  I  detained  his  attention 
till  I  had  nothing  more  to  portray.  He  quickly  turned 
round  to  his  slate,  and  wrote  a  correct  and  complete 
account  of  this  story  of  Brutus  and  his  two  sons. 

Other  instances  of  the  same  kind,  attended  with 
equal  success,  were,  Noah's  building  the  ark,  and  sav- 
ing himself  and  family  in  it  from  the  deluge :  Abra- 
ham's preparing  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac  in  sacrifice, 
and  the  interposition  of  the  angel  in  his  behalf:  the 
passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  Bed  Sea,  and  the 
destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host,  with  similar  scenes 
of  a  picture-like  character  furnished  in  Sacred  History. 

Washington's  passing  over  the  bridge  at  Trenton 
under  a  triumphal  arch,  between  two  rows  of  young 
females  clad  in  white,  who  strewed  flowers  before  him, 
afforded  a  subject,  also,  I  recollect,  at  the  house  of 
Chief  Justice  Mellen,  in  Portland,  Maine,  which  my 
pupil  was  quick  to  receive,  and  to  describe  in  written 
language. 

At  the  same  time,  when  before  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Maine,  conducting  an  exhibition  of  deaf- 
mute  instruction  and  its  results,  I  endeavored  by  the 
process  already  described,  to  convey  to  the  mind  of 
ray  pupil  a  fact  with  which,  I  think,  he  had  not  before 
been  acquainted,  that  I  had  seen  the  coach  in  which 
Napoleon  fled,  from  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  had 
sat  in  the  very  seat  which  he  then  occupied.  I  suc- 
ceeded. 


REV.   THOS.   II    GALLAUDKT.  203 

On  one  occasion  a  Governor  and  Ex-Governor  of 
the  State  of  Connecticut  were  in  my  school  -  room. 
After  some  experiments  on  the  mode  of  communica- 
tion, already  described,  between  myself  and  my  pupil, 
the  Governor  pleasantly  asked  me  if  I  thought  I  could 
tell  the  lad,  in  the  same  way,  that  the  Ex-Governor 
was  an  old  bachelor.  'With  great  ease,'  I  replied, 
and  it  was  soon  done,  the  lad  writing  to  that  effect  on 
his  slate. 

'Now/  says  the  Ex-Governor,  'tell  him  that  the 
Governor  is  a  married  man,  and  has  two  children.' 
This,  also,  was  readily  accomplished.  The  process  in 
each  case  was  very  simple.  In  the  first  I  had  only  to 
look  at  an  imaginary  being  standing  by  my  side,  with 
the  expression  of  interested  conjugal  affection,  then 
at  the  Ex- Governor  with  motions  of  the  head  denoting 
negation,  accompanied  with  an  expression  of  counte- 
nance manifesting  the  pity  I  felt  for  him  in  his  lonely 
condition. 

In  the  case  of  the  Governor,  after  a  similar  express- 
ion of  conjugal  affection,  I  looked  at  him  with  motions 
of  the  head  expressing  affirmation,  and,  then,  putting 
myself,  as  it  were,  in  his  place,  I  directed  my  gaze,  as 
if  towards  a  little  being  before  me,  regarding  it  with 
a  vivid,  delighted  look  of  paternal  love.  I  looked,  in 
the  same  way,  at  another  imaginary  child  near  the 
first  one,  and  then  resumed  my  usual  air  and  manner. 
This  was  sufficient  to  secure  the  desired  result. 

There  was  another  use  which  I  found  it  practicable 
to  make  of  the  mere  expressions  of  the  countenance, 
in  conveying  not  only  ideas  but  words  to  the  mind  of 
my  pupil. 

On  our  journey  to  Maine,  we  sat,  one  day,  directly 


204  LIFE  AND   LABOES   OF 

facing  each  other  in  the  stage-coach.  I  proposed  to  him 
that  we  should  invent  an  alphabet  of  expressions  of  the 
countenance,  and  see  if  we  could  not,  in  a  short  time, 
become  so  familiar  with  it,  as  to  make  it  subservient 
to  the  spelling  of  words  quite  as  surely  and  quickly  as 
could  be  done  by  the  finger  alphabet.  We  began,  and 
settled  it  as  follows  : 

The  simple  expression  of  awe,  was  to  denote  the  let- 
ter a;  of  boldness,  b  ;  of  curiosity,  c;  of  despair,  d; 
of  eagerness,  e  ;  of  fear,  /;  of  gladness,  g ;  and  so  on. 
We  made  various  trials  of  this  new  alphabet  of  the 
looks,  and  found  it  succeed.  It  is  easy  to  see,  that  if 
I  expressed  by  my  countenance  distinctly,  and  with 
slight  intervals  between  the  expressions,  the  emotions 
of  despair,  eagerness,  awe,  and  fear,  the  letters  d,  e,  a, 
andy^  would  be  denoted,  and,  of  course,  the  word  deaf, 
communicated.  And  so  might  any  other  word,  by 
forming  the  proper  expressions.  Simple  as  this  pro- 
cess is,  it  would  still  appear  very  surprising  to  a  per- 
son ignorant  of  it,  after  being  requested  to  furnish  any 
word,  no  matter  how  difficult  or  abstruse  its  meaning, 
to  see  it  immediately  looked  by  the  teacher  into  the 
mind  of  the  pupil,  and  the  latter  writing  it  down  cor- 
rectly on  his  slate. 

These,  and  other  experiments  of  a  similar  kind, 
made  by  a  teacher  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  and  his  pu- 
pils, may,  perhaps,  seem  to  be  matters  of  mere  amuse- 
ment, and  not  of  any  practical  use. 

But  amusement  has  its  uses  in  all  schools,  and  espe- 
cially if  the  teacher  can,  at  suitable  times,  take  part  in 
them  with  his  pupils.  Besides,  in  the  processes  of 
conveying  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  one  mind  to 
another,  which  I  have  been  describing,  no  small  share 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  205 

of  fixed  and  clear  attention ;  of  the  power  of  quick 
perception,  analysis,  inference,  and  combination  ;  and 
of  ingenuity  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  and,  on 
that  of  the  teacher,  of  accurate  and  vivid  conception ; 
of  true  and  deep  feeling ;  of  faithful  and  spirited  delin- 
eation ;  and,  I  may  add,  of  naturalness  and  grace  in 
his  portraitures,  is,  or  ought  to  be,  called  into  exercise. 

He  thus,  also,  has  additional  opportunities  of  study- 
ing the  minds  of  his  pupils,  and  they,  of  becoming 
better  acquainted  with  his  own,  and  the  development 
of  it  through  his  countenance,  air,  and  manner.  All 
this  is  of  great  practical  utility,  even  if  obtained  in  the 
way  of  amusement;  perhaps,  even  the  more  so  on 
that  account. 

The  truth  is,  the  cultivation  and  constant  use  of  the 
expressions  of  the  countenance  as  the  natural  and  in- 
telligible exponents  of  the  workings  of  the  mind  and 
heart,  are  often  too  much  neglected  by  the  instructors 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb.  Let  them  adopt  what  other 
modes  they  may  of  teaching  the  meaning  of  words,  of 
conveying  ideas,  and  of  communicating  useful  knowl- 
edge to  their  pupils,  there  are  defects  and  deficiencies 
in  these  modes,  especially  when  the  subject  is  one  of 
an  elevated  or  obscure  kind,  and  of  an  intellectual, 
moral,  or  religious  import,  which  can  only  be  remedied 
and  supplied  by  the  language  of  the  human  face  divine, 
for  which  the  Author  of  our  being  has  made  such  am- 
ple provision  in  the  elaborate  and  wonderful  machinery 
of  nerves  and  muscles  adapted  to  physiognomic  ex- 
pression. 

The  same  language  of  expression  ought  to  be  em- 
ployed to  a  vastly  greater  extent  than  it  is,  by  those 
who  teach  children  and  youth  that  are  in  possession 


206  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

of  all  their  faculties,  and  especially  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  and  exercising  a  salutary  influence  over  them. 
The  heart  which  is  full  of  energetic  rectitude  and  good- 
ness, mingled  with  love  and  self-denying  benevolence, 
has  a  wonderful  ascendancy  over  the  hearts  of  others, 
when  it  beams  forth  clearly  and  benignantly  through 
the  eye  and  the  whole  countenance.  Let  this  become 
a  habit,  and  the  moral  power  accompanying  it  is  in- 
calculable. Fathers  and  mothers  should  ponder  this 
truth,  and  come  practically  under  its  influence  in  the 
nurture  of  their  children." 

TEACHING  DEAF  MUTES  ARTICULATION. 

With  regard  to  the  practicability  of  doing  this  with- 
out too  great  a  sacrifice  of  time,  and  with  very  little 
corresponding  advantage  at  the  best,  Mr.  Gallaudet 
was  very  doubtful  from  the  first.  Though  he  found 
it  quite  popular  in  the  foreign  schools,  still  what  he 
witnessed  and  learned  of  its  success  did  not  prevail 
with  him  when  he  returned,  to  recommend  it  as  a 
branch  of  deaf-mute  instruction  in  the  Hartford  Asy- 
lum.    He  says,  in  one  of  his  annual  reports — 

"  Articulation  is  not  taught.  It  would  require  more 
time  than  the  present  occasion  furnishes,  to  state  the 
reasons  which  have  induced  the  Principal  of  the  Asy- 
lum and  his  associates  not  to  waste  their  labor  and  that 
of  their  pupils  upon  this  comparatively  useless  branch 
of  the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb.  In  no  case  is 
it  the  source  of  any  original  knowledge  to  the  mind  of 
the  pupil.  In  few  cases  does  it  succeed  so  as  to 
answer  any  valuable  end.  But  its  real  value  may 
well  be  estimated  from  the  opinions  of  one  of  the  most 


REV.   TH03.    II.   GALLAUBET.  207 

distinguished  philosophers  of  the  age,  who  for  many 
years  resided  in  Edinburgh,  where  Mr.  Braidwood, 
perhaps  the  most  accomplished  teacher  of  articulation 
to  the  deaf  and  dumb  which  the  world  ever  saw,  lived 
and  kept  his  school.  The  mere  mention  of  the  name 
of  Dugald  Stewart,  is  sufficient  to  give  force  to  any 
sentiments  which  so  profound  an  observer  of  the  human 
mind  may  have  expressed  on  this  interesting  subject. 
In  his  account  of  James  Mitchell,  a  boy  born  blind 
and  deaf,  published  in  the  transactions  of  the  Koyal 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  part  first  of  vol.  vii,  page  39, 
he  says — '  But  Sicard's  aim  was  of  a  different,  and  of 
a  higher  nature;  not  to  astonish  the  vulgar  by  the 
sudden  conversion  of  a  dumb  child  into  a  speaking 
automaton  ;  but,  by  affording  scope  to  those  means 
which  nature  herself  has  provided  for  the  gradual  evo- 
lution of  our  intellectual  powers,  to  convert  his  pupil 
into  a  rational  and  moral  being.'  And  again,  page  46, 
'  I  have  been  led  to  insist,  at  some  length,  on  the  phil- 
osophical merits  of  Sicard's  plan  of  instruction  for  the 
dumb,  not  only  because  his  fundamental  principles 
admit  of  an  obvious  application  {mutatis  mutandis)  to 
the  case  of  Mitchell,  but  because  his  book  does  not 
seem  to  have  attracted  so  much  notice  in  this  country 
as  might  have  been  expected,  among  those  who  have 
devoted  themselves  to  the  same  profession.  Of  this 
no  stronger  proof  can  be  produced,  than  the  stress 
which  has  been  laid,  by  most  of  our  teachers,  on  the 
power  of  articulation,  which  can  rarely,  if  ever;  repay 
to  a  person  born  deaf,  the  time  and  pains  necessary 
for  the  acquisition.  This  error  was,  no  doubt,  owing, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  a  very  natural,  though  very 
gross  mistake,  which  confounds  the  gift  of  speech  with 


203  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

the  gift  of  reason ;  but  I  believe  it  has  been  prolonged 
and  confirmed  in  England,  not  a  little,  by  the  common 
union  of  this  branch  of  trade  with  the  more  lucrative 
one,  of  professing  to  cure  organical  impediments.  To 
teach  the  dumb  to  speak,  besides,  (although,  in  fact, 
entitled  to  rank  only  a  little  higher  than  the  art  of 
training  starlings  and  parrots,)  will  always  appear  to 
the  multitude  a  far  more  wonderful  feat  of  ingenuity, 
than  to  unfold  silently  the  latent  capacities  of  the  un- 
derstanding; an  effect  which  is  not,  like  the  other, 
palpable  to  sense,  and  of  which  but  a  few  are  able 
either  to  ascertain  the  existence,  or  to  appreciate  the 
value.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  even  those 
teachers  who  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  truth  of  what  I 
have  now  stated,  should  persevere  in  the  difficult,  but 
comparatively  useless  attempt,  of  imparting  to  their 
pupils  that  species  of  accomplishment  which  is  to  fur- 
nish the  only  scale  upon  which  the  success  of  their 
labors  is  ever  likely  to  be  measured  by  the  public' 

"Abandoning,  then,  the  comparatively  useless  at- 
tempt to  teach  their  pupils  articulation,  the  instructors 
in  the  Asylum  have  labored  rather  to  convey  import- 
ant intellectual  and  religious  knowledge  to  their 
minds.  With  what  success  these  labors  have  been 
crowned  can  be  best  appreciated  by  those  who  have 
had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  very  satisfactory 
progress  of  the  pupils,  by  the  inspection  of  their  own 
original  composition,  and  from  the  testimony  of  their 
parents  and  friends,  who,  it  is  confidently  believed, 
have,  in  all  cases,  expressed  the  most  unqualified  ap- 
probation of  the  attainments  which  they  have  made 
in  a  comparatively  short  space  of  time." 

The  expediency  of  teaching  articulation  in  the  deaf- 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  209 

mute  schools  of  this  country,  however,  was  freely  dis- 
cussed, some  being  in  favor  of  it ;  but  the  majority  of 
those  who  were  entitled  to  offer  an  opinion  were 
against  it,  except  in  some  few  cases,  hereafter  to  be 
mentioned. 

The  discussion,  which  I  believe  had  nearly  ceased, 
was  revived,  by  a  statement  in  the  report  of  the  Hon. 
Horace  Mann,  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board 
of  Education,  who  had  been  sent  abroad  to  visit  the 
gymnasian  schools  in  Prussia,  and  kindred  public  in- 
stitutions in  other  foreign  states,  with  the  view  of  graft- 
ing such  improvements  upon  the  system  of  popular 
education  in  Massachusetts,  as  might,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  Board,  help  to  perfect  it.  In  that  report,  Mr. 
Mann  took  occasion  to  speak  of  the  deaf-mute  asylums 
which  he  visited,  as  standing  quite  above  ours  in 
this  country,  and  dwelt  particularly  upon  the  success 
with  which  articulation  was  taught  in  the  institutions 
of  Great  Britain,  Holland,  Germany,  and  France. 

The  letter  which  it  appears  Mr.  Mann  wrote  to 
Mr.  Gallaudet,  soon  after  his  return,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  find,  but  large  extracts  from  Mr.  Gallaudet's 
answer  are  here  inserted. 

T.  H.  Gallaudet  to  Hon.  Horace  Mann. 

"  Hartford,  May  13th,  1844. 
"  Hon.  Horace  Manx. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  should  have  replied  before  this 
to  your  late  very  kind  letter,  but  much  bodily  indis- 
position, and  a  pressure  of  numerous  duties  have 
prevented. 

I  am  free  to  say  that  I  deeply  regret  the  very 
strong  language  which  you  use  in  your  report,  so  in- 


210  LIFE   AND    LABOKS   OF 

terestmg  and  admirable  in  most  of  its  features,  when 
you  say  that  the  schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in 
Prussia,  Saxony,  and  Holland,  seem  to  you  decidedly 
superior  to  anything  in  this  country ;  because,  in  order 
to  say  this,  as  I  think,  understandingly,  you  ought  to 
be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  system  of  discipline 
and  instruction  pursued  in  our  Asylum,  and  other 
American  institutions,  in  its  details  and  practical  re- 
sults; for  how  else  can  a  fair  comparison  be  made? 

The  teaching  of  the  deaf-mutes  to  articulate  and  to 
understand  what  is  said  to  them,  is  but  one  part  of 
their  education. 

The  development  of  the  intellectual  and  moral 
faculties  of  deaf  mutes;  their  intellectual  and  moral 
training;  their  government,  by  moral  influence; 
the  imparting  to  them  moral,  religious,  and  other 
knowledge;  their  participating,  understandingly,  in 
the  social  and  public  devotional  exercises  of  the  Insti- 
tution ;  the  furnishing  of  their  minds  with  the  ideas,  the 
facts,  and  that  amount  of  knowledge,  which  are  ne- 
cessary to  prepare  them  to  understand  a  vast  number 
of  the  words  which  must  be  taught  them  ;  their  be- 
coming acquainted  Avith  our  social  and  civil  institu- 
tions ;  with  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  and  his- 
tory ;  with  the  history,  simple  doctrines,  and  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Bible ;  with  their  duties  to  God,  to  their 
fellow-men,  and  themselves;  and  their  acquiring  a 
trade,  or  some  means  of  gaining  a  livelihood;  and 
especially  their  being  taught  to  write  the  English 
language  correctly,  and  to  read  boohs  intelligently,  (one 
of  the  highest  solaces  and  means  of  constantly  pro- 
gressive self-culture,  which  deaf-mutes  can  enjoy,)  all 
these  are  essential  parts  of  their  education. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  211 

They  may  have  them  without  being  able  to  articu- 
late, and  understand  what  is  said  to  them,  or  some  of 
them  may  be  able  to  do  the  latter,  and  yet  be  deficient 
in  the  former. 

In  how  many  cases  the  two  can  be  combined,  and 
with  what  degree  of  success,  is  a  point  that  needs  the 
most  careful  examination. 

The  complete  education  of  deaf-mutes,  I  am  decided 
in  saying,  cannot  be  successfully  carried  on,  especially 
during  the  early  stages  of  their  instruction,  without 
the  use  of  that  very  distinct,  intelligible,  copious,  and 
beautiful  language  of  natural  signs,  which  nature  has 
prompted  them  in  their  separate  and  insulated  state, 
originally  to  invent,  in  its  more  simple  elements,  and 
which  science  and  art  have  advanced  to  a  high  degree 
of  perfection.  Without  this  language  of  natural  signs, 
the  teacher  can  have,  at  first,  no  ready  and  adequate 
means  of  free  communication  with  his  pupils,  (by  this 
language,  he  has  this  free  communication  long,  long 
before  he  can  have  it  by  words) ;  he  cannot  get  hold 
of  their  peculiarities  of  mind;  cannot  give  them  in- 
structive illustrations,  by  practical  examples,  of  the 
full  meaning  of  very  many  words;  cannot  do  much 
to  expand  their  opening  faculties ;  and  cannot  under- 
stand their  difficulties,  and  the  questions  they  may  wish 
to  propose  to  him,  respecting  these  difficulties ;  a  most 
essential  part  of  the  proper  instruction  of  any  child. 
How  far  the  essential  parts  of  a  complete  education, 
which  I  have  above  specified,  must  be  retarded,  sacri- 
ficed, or  neglected,  in  the  five,  or  even  six  years  allowed 
by  the  Legislatures  of  the  States,  for  the  actual  residence 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb  at  our  public  institutions,  in  order 
to  go  through  with  the  long,  laborious,  and  to  them, 


212  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

certainly,  in  many  cases,  as  experience  lias  abundantly 
shown,  very  tedious  and  irksome  process  of  learning 
to  articulate,  and  to  understand  what  is  said  to  them ; 
how  far  this  process  is  successful,  to  the  extent  of 
which  you  so  unhesitatingly  speak,  when  as  we  know 
the  whole  subject  has,  more  than  once,  undergone  the 
severest  scrutiny  in  Europe,  by  the  most  sagacious  in- 
dividuals, (philosophers,  such  as  Degeraldo,  and  Dugald 
Stewart,*  and  accomplished  teachers  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  among  the  number,)  who  have  come  to  very  differ- 
ent results,  with  regard  to  the  facts  in  the  case,  from  yours; 
and  how  far  the  English  tongue  may,  as  you  suggest, 
present  intrinsic  difhcuties  in  the  matter — these  are 
questions,  when  we  come  to  the  fair  investigation  of  this 
complicated  subject,  and  wish  to  balance  all  the  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages,  to  answer  which  demands 
much  practical  experience  in  the  instruction  of  deaf- 
mutes,  and  a  most  thorough  and  critical  investigation 
of  the  whole  ground  covered. 

If  you  come  to  Hartford,  do  let  me  know  it,  that  I 
may  once  more  have  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  your  so- 
ciety, and  talking  over  with  you,  both  deaf-mute  and 
other  matters  of  common  interest. 

Yours  truly, 

T.  H.  GALLATJDET." 

Soon  after  this,  the  Principal,  Mr.  Weld,  who  had 
twenty-six  years'  experience  in  the  instruction  of  deaf- 
mutes,  was  sent  out  to  visit  the  foreign  asylums,  as 
was  also  the  Eev.   Mr.  Day,   an  experienced  teacher, 

*  Dugald  Stewart,  in  his  writings,  who  had  the  school  of  Braid- 
wood,  (one  of  the  most  accomplished  teachers  of  articulation  to 
deaf-mutes  that  ever  lived,)  in  Edinburgh,  under  his  familiar  in- 
spection, goes  strong  against  articulation. 


REV.   THOS.   II.   GALLATOET.  213 

with  instructions  to  report.  They  did  so,  and  their 
reports  did  not,  it  is  believed,  change  the  views  which 
Mr.  Gallaudet  had  before  entertained,  with  regard  to 
teaching  articulation  in  our  American  schools. 

He  never  denied,  but  that  with  great  pains-taking, 
some  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  might  be  taught  to  speak, 
though  he  maintained  that  it  must  be  very  indiffer- 
ently at  the  best.  In  point  of  fact,  articulation  has, 
from  the  beginning,  been  taught  to  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent, and  is  still  taught  in  the  American  asylums. 
There  are  three  classes  of  deaf  mutes ;  those  who  were 
born  such  ;  those  who  have  lost  their  hearing  by  some 
disease,  in  very  early  childhood  ;  and  those  who  cannot 
speak,  but  are  not  perfectly  deaf.  It  is  admitted,  that 
the  two  latter  of  these  unfortunate  classes,  may  be 
taught  to  speak,  more  or  less  perfectly,  according  to 
the  time  and  degree  of  the  existing  infirmity.  Nor 
can  it  be  absolutely  affirmed  that  no  congenital  deaf- 
mute,  can  be  taught  articulation  of  any  kind,  for  some 
have  been.  But  what  does  it  amount  to  in  such  cases? 
How  rude,  how  imperfect,  how  grating,  how  unhu- 
man,  the  sound  from  such  lips !  It  does  not,  it  can- 
not, approach  to  anything  like  distinct  articulation, 
save  in  the  simplest  words  of  our  language,  if  at  all. 
And  after  all  that  can  be  done,  what  parent  is  there, 
who  would  think  of  carrying  on  even  a  short  conver- 
sation with  his  or  her  child,  in  peril  of  such  unearthly 
shrieks  and  explosions?  But  I  may  not  linger  here. 
Mr.  Gallaudet's  deliberate  judgment,  made  up  on  this 
point,  and  all  other  questions  touching  deaf-mute  in- 
struction, after  such  long  experience,  and  deep  reflec- 
tion, will,  I  nothing  doubt,  stand  the  test  of  the  most 
enlightened  scrutiny. 


PART  SECOND. 


EMBRACING  THE  PERIOD  SPECIALLY  DEVOTED  TO 

LITERARY  LABORS  IX  THE  CAUSE  OF 

POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


cause  c 


PART    SECOND. 


CHAPTEE    I. 

From  1815,  when  Mr.  Gallaudet  embarked  in  the 
new  enterprise,  and  went  abroad  to  qualify  himself 
for  it,  a  memoir  of  his  life  naturally  embraces  three 
distinct  periods  or  stages ;  his  connection  with  the 
Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb ;  his  labors  in  the 
cause  of  popular  education,  and  his  connection  with 
the  Connecticut  Retreat  for  the  Insane. 

The  first  of  these  periods  extends,  as  we  have  seen, 
from  1815  to  1830 ;  and,  if  he  had  done  nothing  more 
for  his  race  than  what  he  accomplished  in  those  fifteen 
years,  he  would  have  stood  very  high  among  the 
benefactors  of  his  age.  In  reading  his  biography,  the 
deaf  and  the  dumb  of  many  generations  will  succes- 
sively rise  up  and  call  him  blessed. 

But  it  was  not  in  his  nature  to  rest,  so  long  as  God 
gave  him  strength  to  work,  and  he  could  find  any 
thing  else  to  do.  Some  men,  when  they  retire  from 
the  successful  prosecution  of  any  arduous  enterprise, 
feel  as  if  they  had  done  enough,  and  were  entitled  to 
10  -  P"] 


218  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

withdraw  and  repose  upon  their  laurels,  even  in  the 
meridian  of  life.  To  say  nothing  of  the  sin  of  thus 
burying  their  talents,  they  commit  one  of  the  greatest 
mistakes  into  which  they  could  fall.  They  cut  them- 
selves off  from  all  the  sweet  satisfactions  of  doing 
good,  and  not  seldom  exchange  the  health  which 
active  duties  had  earned  and  preserved,  for  some  of 
the  thousand  morbid  retributions  that  want  of  occu- 
pation engenders  and  nourishes.  No  wonder  if  they 
"  should  not  live  out  half  their  days." 

With  this  class,  Mr.  Gallaudet  had  no  fellowship 
nor  sympathy.  He  was  of  such  an  active  tempera- 
ment, that  he  could  not  have  gone  from  the  laborious 
routine  of  the  Asylum  into  mere  negative  retirement 
if  he  might ;  and  his  conscience  would  not  have  al- 
lowed him  to  do  it  if  he  could.  The  question  with 
him,  when  he  found  he  must  give  up  his  favorite  em- 
ployment of  teaching  deaf  mutes,  was,  "  What  can  I 
do  next?  Though  I  can't  safely  labor  any  longer 
here,  I  am  still  able  to  do  something ;  and  '  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  do  ?  '  "  It  appears,  from  his 
correspondence,  and  still  more  from  his  private  papers, 
that  his  waning  health  warned  him  he  must  retire,  a 
considerable  time  before  he  was  willing  to  entertain 
the  thought.  Indeed,  he  very  early  felt  that  he 
should  not  be  able  to  bear  the  burden  long;  but 
God  renewed  his  strength  from  time  to  time,  till  his 
work  in  that  field  was  done,  and  he  was  not  broken 
down. 

Whether  Mr.  Gallaudet  had  distinctly  marked  out 
for  himself  any  particular  course  of  life  and  labor, 
when  he  left  the  Asylum,  does  not  appear.  He  had, 
indeed,  cherished  the  hope  that  he  should,  sooner  or 


REV.   TITOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  219 

later,  find  time  to  write  school  books  in  the  elementary- 
branches  of  popular  education,  and  for  the  moral  and 
religious  instruction  of  the  young.  "What  else  he 
should  do,  he  seems  not  to  have  decided.  But,  in  the 
mean  time,  others  who  highly  appreciated  his  talents, 
and  had  heard  of  his  contemplated  retirement  from 
the  field  which  he  had  cultivated  with  such  remark- 
able success,  were  contriving  how  to  allure  him  into 
their  favorite  enclosures,  as  will  appear  from  the 
applications  which  he  received  from  almost  every 
quarter. 

It  is  believed,  that  the  services  of  no  man  in  this 
country  were  ever  more  earnestly  sought  for,  in  so 
many  departments  of  philanthropic  labor.  The  im- 
pression was  almost  universal,  as  far  as  he  was  known, 
(and  where  was  he  not  known  ?)  not  only  that  he  was 
eminently  qualified  to  take  charge  of  any  benevolent 
institution  in  the  land,  or  for  any  educational  service 
to  which  he  might  be  called,  but  that  he  was  the  first 
man  to  be  thought  of,  for  places  of  the  highest  respon- 
sibility. This  unmistakably  appears  in  the  volu- 
minous correspondence  which  lies  before  me,  and  a 
part  of  which  deserves  a  prominent  place  in  the 
present  volume. 

To  begin  with  the  American  Colonization  So- 
ciety. Mr.  Gallaudet  had  been  a  warm  friend  and 
advocate  of  this  society  from  the  first.  He  was  in 
intimate  correspondence  with  the  Eev.  E.  E.  Gurley, 
one  of  the  most  active  and  devoted  friends  of  that 
great,  if  not  the  greatest  benevolent  and  Christian  en- 
terprise of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  a  letter  just 
received  from  Mr.  Gurley,  dated  Washington,  June  2d, 
1857,  he  says : 


220  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"  The  society  had  perhaps  never  a  more  prudent, 
wise,  sagacious  and  determined  friend  than  Mr.  Gral- 
laudet.  Profoundly  acquainted  with  human  nature ; 
very  conciliating  but  very  firm ;  ready  always  to  con- 
cede in  things  immaterial,  but  resolute  of  purpose  in 
things  essential.  Among  the  letters  I  send  you  are 
two,  addressed  to  Eahhaman,  the  Moorish  prince,  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  May  a  divine  blessing  rest 
upon  your  Christian  labors,  in  illustrating  the  life  of 
one  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  men." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Gallaudet  left  the  Asylum,  he  was 
appointed  permanent  agent  of  the  Colonization  Society 
for  New  England,  and  earnestly  urged  to  engage  in 
the  service,  on  a  salary  of  $1500  and  expenses. 

"  The  proposition,"  says  the  Secretary,  communi- 
cating the  appointment,  "  is  for  yourself.  Our  mana- 
gers are  unwilling  to  extend  it  to  another,  beyond 
$1000  and  expenses.  I  should  rejoice  to  see  you  con- 
nected with  our  cause ;  and  cannot  doubt,  that  were 
you  to  accept  the  agency,  such  a  connection  would  be 
permanent.  But  I  have  no  disposition  to  urge  this, 
and  you  can  best  judge  in  relation  to  your  duty  and 
your  interest." 

Mr.  Gallaudet  took  the  subject  into  deliberate  and 
prayerful  consideration,  as  he  did  all  such  applications 
for  responsible  services,  from  whatever  quarter  they 
might  come.  While  he  was  deliberating,  the  managers 
of  the  New  York  Colonization  Society  directed  their 
Secretary  to  forward  to  him  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions : 

"  Whereas,  This  Board  is  informed,  by  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Gurley,  Secretary  of  the  American  Colo- 
nization Society,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet,  of  Hart- 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  221 

ford,  Conn.,  has  been  appointed  their  permanent  agent 
for  this  and  the  New  England  States,  requesting  the 
influence  of  this  Board  with  Mr.  Gallaudet  to  induce 
him  to  accept  the  appointment, 

11  Resolved,  That  this  Board  is  fully  convinced  that 
the  acquisition  of  the  talents  and  efforts  of  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet, as  such  agent,  will  promote,  in  an  eminent 
ree,  the  great  enterprise  of  Colonization ,  which  we 
regard  with  such  deep  concern  to  this  country  and  to 
Africa. 

"  Further  resolved^  That  Mr.  Gallaudefs  acceptance 
of  this  appointment  will  afford  great  and  peculiar 
satisfaction  to  this  Board/' 

Though  he  declined  the  appointment,  he  retained  a 
lively  interest  in  the  cause  to  the  day  of  his  death.  It 
may  be  added,  as  another  proof  of  this  interest,  that 
for  several  years  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Connecticut 
Colonization  Society,  and  one  of  its  most  zealous  and 
efficient  members. 

The  following  letter  shows,  still  further,  how  anxious 
the  friends  of  colonization  were  to  secure  his  services. 

"  Philadelphia,  1st  July,  1833. 
■  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  : 

"Dear  Sir, — TVe  are  directed,  under  an  appointment 
from  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Colo- 
nization Society,  to  correspond  with  you,  with  a  view 
to  ascertain  whether  you  would  be  willing  to  accept 
an  appointment  under  our  Board,  as  an  agent  for  the 
State,  to  promote  the  object  of  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  by  raising  funds,  diffusing  information, 
organizing  local  societies  or  associations  in  counties  or 
towns,  and  such  other  measures  as,  in  your  judgment 


222  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

and  that  of  the  Board,  would  most  effectually  wake  up 
the  community  to  this  great  and  good  work. 
"  From  yours  most  respectfully, 

"  GERARD  RALSTON,  and  others." 

So  much  pleased  was  Mr.  Gurley  with  one  of  Mr. 
Gallaudet's  annual  reports,  as  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
necticut Society,  that  he  wrote  him  the  following 
letter : 

"  Office  of  the  Colonization  Society,  ) 

"Washington,  June  6th,  1830.  j" 

uKev.  and  Dear  Sir, — I  am  delighted  with  your 
report.*  It  is  admirably  drawn  up,  and  must  exert 
a  powerful  influence.  May  I  beg  you  to  favor  me 
with  three  or  four  copies  ? 

"  Allow  me  to  suggest,  that  great  good  would  prob- 
ably result  from  giving  it  a  wide  circulation  among 
the  several  State  societies  and  other  auxiliaries.  I 
hope  you  have  printed  a  large  edition. 

"I  am  most  happy  to  communicate  the  following 
resolution,  which  was  adopted  unanimously  by  our 
Board  at  their  last  meeting : 

"  L  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  be 
invited  to  accept  of  an  agency  for  the  society,  for  a 
few  months,  in  New  England,  and  that  he  be  particu- 
larly requested  to  visit  Boston,  and  endeavor  to  es- 
tablish, in  that  city,  a  State  society,  and  to  urge  the 
objects  of  the  memorial  of  the  society,  now  before  the 
Legislature  of  that  State.' 

"  I  hope  you  will  consent  to  lend  us,  for  a  short 
time  at  least,  the  aid  of  your  influence  and  talents  in 

*  Alluding  to  one  not  long  before  presented  by  Mr.  Gallaudet 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Connecticut  Colonization  Society. 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  223 

arousing  the  good  feelings  of  New  England  to  activity 
and  energy,  in  behalf  of  suffering  and  neglected 
Africa.  You  have  done  much  by  your  pen ;  you 
can  do  much  more  by  your  intercourse  with  society, 
and  the  persuasive  powers  of  your  eloquence. 

u  Several  members  of  the  Legislature  have  promised 
their  support.  You  will  find  Mr.  Everett  a  decided 
friend  to  our  cause,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  Mr. 
Webster  will  give  his  countenance  to  the  scheme. 
Mr.  Charles  Tappan,  our  local  agent  at  Boston,  has 
shown  a  very  deep  and  friendly  interest.  The  present 
is  a  very  favorable  time  for  bringing  the  subject  before 
the  citizens  of  Boston,  and  of  Massachusetts.  I  hope, 
therefore,  you  will  not  deny  us  your  kind  assistance. 

"  Very  respectfully  and  affectiona; 

"R  EL  GURLEY." 

He,  in  view  of  other  pressing  applications  for 
public  services,  Mr.  Gallaudet  felt  it  his  duty  to  de- 
cline connecting  himself  with  the  colonization  cause, 
as  above  solicited,  he  had  before  been  led  to  inquire 
whether  some  school  or  schools  could  not  be  es: 
lished  in  this  country  tor  the  education  of  colored 
-ionaries  and  teachers  for  Africa.  With  this  view, 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  Dr.  Milnor,  and  received  the 
following  answer  : 

Dr.  Milnor  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

-  Xew  York.  Feb.  21.  1887. 

,;  Rev.  axd  Dear  Sir, — I  should  have  returned  an 

earlier  answer  to  your  favor  of  January,  if  I  had  been 

able  to  say  any  thing  of  importance  in  relation  to  the 

interesting  subject.    Similar  communications  have  been 


224  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

received  by  some  of  the  bishops  of  our  church,  and 
others ;  and  the  society  of  our  church  for  ihe  promo- 
tion of  domestic  and  foreign  missions  have  taken  the 
matter  under  consideration,  and  will  no  doubt  make 
every  inquiry  in  their  power.  I  have,  however,  very 
little  hope  of  many  suitable  missionaries  being  pro- 
cured, except  in  the  way  you  have  suggested,  and 
even  that  will  be  attended  with  great  difficulty,  both 
in  the  procurance  of  suitable  characters,  and  providing 
them  with  the  means  of  acquiring  a  competent  edu- 
cation. There  is  an  institution  in  an  incipient  state, 
whose  location  is  designed  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of 
Newark,  K.  J. ;  but  its  funds  at  present  consist  only 
of  the  moneys  bequeathed  by  General  Kosciusco  for 
such  an  object,  and  a  great  lassitude  seems  to  me  to 
obtain,  in  getting  it  into  operation.  Much  time  must 
necessarily  elapse,  before  efficient  aid  in  the  supply 
of  colored  missionaries  from  this  country  can  possibly 
be  rendered.  To  give  a  competent  education  to  pious 
persons  of  this  description,  who  have  spent  their  ear- 
lier years  in  slavery  and  ignorance,  will  very  rarely 
be  practicable.  It  has  seemed  to  me  indispensable  to 
begin  with  a  school  of  children,  and  trust  to  the  provi- 
dence and  grace  of  God  for  their  obtaining,  along  with 
the  benefits  of  secular  learning,  the  spiritual  qualifica- 
tions requisite  in  the  missionaries  of  the  cross. 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that,  in  this  age  of  Christian 
enterprise,  this  very  important  means  of  extending  to 
injured  Africa  the  benefits  of  Christianity,  will  not 
be  lost  sight  of.  But,  in  the  present  state  of  things, 
it  is  neither  practicable  for  me  to  suggest  to  you  any 
way  in  which  you  can  further  it,  nor  to  do  any  thing 
for  its  prosecution   myself,   except  to  present  it,  as 


REV.    TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  225 

opportunity  offers,  in  all  its  interesting  bearings,  to 
other  minds,  and  thus  assist  in  gradually  exciting  a 
spirit  that  may  lead  to  determinate  measures  in  its 
favor. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  Rev.  and  dear  sir, 
"  Your  ob.  s?t  and  br.  in  C. 
»  Key.  T.  H.  Gallaudet."  "  JAMES  MILXOR. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  also  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gerrit 
Smith,  touching  the  same  matter,  and  his  reply  is 
here  inserted : 

Hon.  Gerrit  Smith  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 
;-  Peterboro',  Madison  Co.,  X.  Y.,  April  14,1827. 
"  Dear  Sie, — I  received  your  letter  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure,  and  especially  so,  because  it  presents 
to  me,  in  yourself  and  Mr.  Wright,  a  couple  of  valu- 
able and  earnest  friends  to  the  African  cause — a  cause 
so  neglected,  that  the  few  who  come  up  to  its  help  are 
hailed  with  peculiar  satisfaction.  It  was  with  much 
regret  that  I  saw  in  the  '  Freedonr  s  Journal '  the  arti- 
cle you,  no  doubt,  refer  to,  respecting  my  purposes  of 
good  to  this  unhappy  portion  of  the  human  family. 
The  reply  which  I  immediately  sent  to  the  editors  of 
that  paper  will,  I  trust,  go  far  towards  correcting  the 
false  impressions  on  this  subject.  If  that  reply  meets 
your  eye,  it  will  show  you  that  I  am  thinking  a  little 
about  my  duty  in  this  matter,  and  that  I  am  hoping 
to  begin  to  do  it  in  a  year  or  two,  should  my  life  be 
spared  so  long. 

'•  I  have,  for  a  year,  thought  of  establishing  a  Semi- 
nary in  this  place,  in  which  to  receive  Africans  of 
from  fifteen  to  thirty  years  of  age,  and  to  qualify 

10* 


226  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

them  for  missionaries  to  Africa.  Such  being  the  single 
object  of  the  proposed  school,  none,  of  course,  would 
be  admitted  into  it  but  such  as  were  evidently  pious. 
I  have  not  intended  to  carry  them  through  such  a 
course  of  instruction  as  would  render  them  polite 
scholars  and  thorough  theologians.  Considering  the 
character  of  the  people  with  whom  they  would  have 
to  do,  such  an  education  does  not  seem  to  be  necessary. 
A  far  less  expensive  one,  such  as  I  propose,  would 
qualify  the  individual,  perhaps,  nearly  as  well  for  his 
duties,  and,  at  the  same  time,  enable  me  to  double  or 
treble  the  number  of  my  school.  A  common  English 
education,  and  a  careful  instruction  in  the  fundamental 
truths  of  our  holy  religion,  (say  one  year  under  a 
theological  teacher,)  are  the  extent  of  the  education  I 
purpose  to  give. 

"  This  is  something  of  my  plan  of  beneficence  to 
Africa.  Of  my  little  ability  to  do  good  to  my  fellow- 
creatures,  I  have  long  thought  Africa  was  entitled  to 
the  largest  share,  and  in  no  way  can  I  serve  her  to 
any  account,  unless  it  be  in  some  such  way  as  I  pro- 
pose. The  situation  of  my  property  forbids,  my  help- 
ing her  in  any  other  way.  I  have  no  money,  but  a 
number  of  large  and  valuable  farms  around  me.  The 
grain  of  these  farms  will  feed  my  school,  and  from  the 
sheep  that  run  upon  them  I  can  clothe  it ;  besides,  I 
should  get  from  each  of  my  scholars  two  or  three 
months'  labor  in  the  year  on  my  farms.  Landed 
property  here  is  scarcely  convertible  into  money  at 
any  price. 

"  There  are  many  inviting  features  in  your  plan  of 
taking  African  boys  without  reference  to  their  char- 
acter for  piety.     I  think,  however,  of  some  objections 


J 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  227 

to  it.  My  correspondence  on  the  subject  has  satisfied 
me  that  there  are  many  more  pious  blacks  in  our  coun- 
try than  it  is  generally  supposed  there  are.  I  think 
I  could  get,  without  much  difficulty,  fifty  or  one  hun- 
dred of  that  description  into  such  a  school  as  I  propose. 
I  should  be  very  loth  to  undertake  the  education 
of  as  many  irreligious  blacks.  Aside  from  religion, 
the  motives  in  our  country  for  the  black  man  to  be- 
come a  worthy  person  are  not  sufficiently  powerful. 
Our  institutions,  political  and  social,  the  feelings  and 
habits  allied  to  them — a  thousand  causes,  in  short, 
conspire  to  make  the  black  man  worthless,  by  a  power 
that  is  seldom  successfully  resisted  where  there  is  not 
grace  in  the  heart.  True,  the  prospect  of  being  speedily 
transplanted  in  Africa,  there  to  be  independent  and 
respected,  would  prove,  no  doubt,  in  the  case  you 
mention,  no  inconsiderable  stimulant  to  the  young 
African's  ambition,  and  the  improvement  of  his  char- 
acter.    I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

"  GERRIT  SMITH, 
"  Mr.  Gallaupet." 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Eev.  Ed- 
ward Bickersteth,  Secretary  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  is  here  inserted,  as  showing  that  Mr.  Gallaudet 
was  thus  early  known  in  England  as  a  man  to  be  relied 
upon  for  such  information  as  the  society  wanted : 

■  Church  Missionary  House, 'London,  Oct.  25th,  1826. 
11  My  Dear  Sir, — The  committee  of  the  Church 
Missionary   Society,  having   lost   many  valuable   la- 
borers in  Africa,  have   turned  their  attention  to  a 
supply  of  teachers  better  fitted   than   Europeans  to 


228  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

encounter  the  insalubrity  of  its  climate.  They  have 
been  strongly  recommended  to  endeavor  to  procure 
persons  of  color  for  this  service,  and  have  been  led  to 
suppose  that  there  may  be  many  such  in  America, 
who  have  the  requisite  piety,  talent  and  knowledge  to 
fit  them  for  such  an  office. 

"  Their  duty  would  be  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  liberated  Africans  congregated  in  Sierra  Leone 
from  all  parts  of  Africa. 

"  We  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  will  inform  us 
whether  there  be,  in  your  knowledge,  any  persons  of 
this  description  who  would  be  willing  to  devote  them- 
selves wholly  to  labor  in  Africa  to  diffuse  the  Gospel. 

"  It  might  not,  probably,  be  difficult  for  such  per- 
sons to  obtain  ordination  from  the  bishops  of  the  sister 
church  in  America  before  they  left  there. 

"  Such  persons  should  pledge  themselves  to  submit 
to  the  directions  of  the  society,  as  to  the  stations  in 
which  they  may  labor,  and  their  general  conduct. 

u  The  remuneration  for  their  services  would  be  suf- 
ficient for  their  comfortable  support ;  but  on  this  point, 
and  any  other  connected  with  the  design,  we  shall  be 
truly  glad  to  have  your  free  and  full  sentiments. 
1 '  I  am,  dear  sir,  faithfully  yours, 

"ED WD  BICKEKSTETH,  Sec.  C.  M.  S. 
"  Eev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet,  &c." 

Some  who  read  this  memoir  will  remember  the 
account,  which  was  published  in  the  African  Eeposi- 
tory,  of  a  slave  who  was  brought  to  Natchez,  and  sold 
to  Colonel  Thomas  Foster  of  that  place ;  and  who,  after 
remaining  in  bondage  nearly  forty  years,  was  met  and 
recognized  by  Dr.  Cox,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  as. 


KEY.   TTIOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  229 

the  Moorisli  prince  Abduhl  Rahhamau,  whom  he  had 
known  forty  years  before  in  Tumbo,  and  by  whom  he 
had  been  treated  with  great  kindness  when  he  was 
rich  in  that  place.  Dr.  Cox,  in  the  fullness  of  his  grati- 
tude, went  to  Colonel  Foster,  and  offered  him  a  thous- 
and dollars  if  he  would  liberate  the  prince.  But  he 
was  so  valuable  a  slave,  and  so  serviceable  was  the 
good  influence  which  he  exercised  over  all  the  slaves 
on  his  plantation,  that  Colonel  Foster  could  not  consent 
to  part  with  him.  Some  years  after  Dr.  Cox's  death, 
the  case  being  reported  to  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, and  satisfactory  evidence  being  presented  of  the 
truth  of  the  prince's  statements  and  history,  an  agent 
was  sent  to  Natchez  to  procure  his  freedom.  He  was 
at  once  manumitted  by  Colonel  Foster,  without  any 
compensation. 

The  prince  was  then  sixty-six  years  old,  having 
been  a  slave  forty  years.  He  had  a  wife,  five  sons, 
and  eight  grandchildren,  all  in  bondage.  His  wife 
was  soon  bought  and  set  free,  by  benevolent  indi- 
viduals in  Natchez  and  neighborhood.  The  object 
was  to  send  them  back  to  their  own  country;  but 
they  could  not  bear  to  go  and  leave  their  children  and 
grandchildren  behind.  A  large  sum  was  required  for 
their  ransome,  and  how  was  it  to  be  obtained  ?  In  the 
number  of  the  Repository  for  October,  1828,  I  find 
the  following  notice  of  the  agency  by  which  the  pur- 
chase money  was  raised : 

"  We  have  before  mentioned  the  prince's  desire  to 
obtain  the  redemption  of  his  entire  family,  and  that 
he  had  gone  to  the  northern  cities  to  solicit  aid.  We 
rejoice  to  find,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet,  Principal 


230  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

of  the  Asylum  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  at  Hartford, 
and  so  well  known  to  the  public  for  his  truly  Christian 
and  charitable  enterprise,  has  generously  devoted 
himself  for  two  or  three  weeks  past,  to  this  unfortunate 
stranger ;  examined  and  made  himself  familiar  with 
his  history ;  brought  the  facts  of  it  before  the  public 
in  New  England,  and  finally  visited  New  York,  where 
he  made  a  powerful  appeal  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  to 
the  generous  and  wealthy  of  that  city." 

The  address  was  published,  and  greatly  aided  in 
raising  the  sum  required.  I  cannot  refrain  from 
quoting  a  part  of  the  closing  paragraph  from  that 
eloquent  appeal.  It  was  thought  worthy  of  the  man 
and  of  the  sacred  cause  of  humanity  and  religion. 

"  The  prince  was  born  and  spent  his  early  youth 
in  Timbuctoo,  and  recollects  that  no  one  was  disturbed 
for  religious  opinions,  and  that  the  Alcoran  has  given 
the  people  a  curiosity  to  see  the  Bible.  During  all 
his  trials,  the  prince  has  not  forgotten  his  Arabic,  but 
reads  it  fluently  and  writes  it  with  neatness.  The 
finger  of  God  seems  to  point  to  great  results  arising 
from  his  return.  His  life  appears  like  a  romance,  and 
would  be  incredible  if  the  evidence  were  not  undeniable. 
We  see  in  these  events,  that  God's  ways  are  not  as 
our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts.  We  see 
why  the  prince  was  not  to  return  with  his  Moorish  dis- 
position and  his  Moorish  sword  ;  that  providence  con- 
tinued him  here,  till  grace  had  softened  his  heart. 
He  will  now  return  a  messenger  of  peace.  Blessed 
be  God,  that  we  are  permitted  the  honor  of  cooper- 
ating with  him.  Methinks  I  see  him,  like  a  patriarch 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  over  which  he  was  taken  forty 
years  since,  with  his  flock  around  him,  and  happy 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  231 

in  doing  good.  I  think  I  see  benighted  Africa  taking 
her  stand  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  I  think 
I  see  Egypt,  as  heretofore,  pouring  a  flood  of  light 
into  Greece,  and  Carthage  arising  in  former  glory. 

"I  think  I  see  Africa,  one  hand  pointing  to  the 
tablet  of  eternal  justice,  making  even  us  Americans 
tremble,  while  the  words  are  pronounced,  '  Vengeance 
is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord ;'  and  with  the 
other  pointing  to  the  golden  rule  of  the  Gospel." 

Soon  after  their  emancipation,  the  prince  and  his 
family  emigrated  to  Liberia,  where  he  died  in  a  short 
time,  and  where  Mr.  Gurley  visited  his  widow  not 
long  after  his  death.  She  handed  him  an  old  pocket 
book,  in  which  he  found  the  following  letter  from  Mr. 
Gallaudet,  under  date  of  May  15th,  1828. 

Letter  to  Abduhl  Rahhaman,  the  Moorish  Prince. 
"  Hartford,  May  15th,  1828. 

"  My  Venerable  Friend, — I  have  read  with  deep 
interest  the  late  accounts  respecting  you,  and  how, 
with  the  blessing  of  God,  and  by  the  liberality  of 
kind  friends,  yourself  and  wife  have  obtained  freedom, 
and  are  soon  to  return  to  your  native  land. 

"  I  saw  in  this  city,  a  few  days  since,  the  Rev.  Jonas 
King,  who  has  lately  been  a  Christian  missionary  in 
Palestine.  He  told  me,  that  when  he  should  arrive 
in  New  York,  from  which  place  he  expects  soon  to 
embark  for  Greece,  he  would  send  you  an  Arabic 
Bible.     I  hope  it  will  reach  you  in  safety. 

"  I  also  send  you,  (and  of  which  I  beg  your  ac- 
ceptance, as  a  small  token  of  my  esteem  and  friend- 
ship), a  small  book  in  Arabic,  which  was  sent  to  me 
a  few  years  ago,  by  a  friend  in  England,  the  Rev. 


282  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

Josiah  Pratt,  secretary  at  that  time,  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  which  has  done  so  much  to  en- 
lighten the  Africans  in  their  native  country. 

"  Eemember,  my  venerable  friend,  that  it  is  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  alone,  which  leads  men  to  do 
good  to  the  souls  of  their  fellow  men.  What  other 
religion  does  this  ?  I  know  there  are  those  who  call 
themselves  Christians,  (and  it  easy  for  men  to  call 
themselves  by  any  name,)  and  yet  act  directly  contrary 
to  the  commands  of  Jesus  Christ.  Do  not  judge  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  by  such  men. 

"Kead  attentively,  I  beseech  you,  my  venerable 
friend,  the  New  Testament.  You  will  see  in  the 
character  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  all  his  precepts,  a 
religion  which,  if  cherished  in  the  heart  and  practiced 
in  the  life,  would  make  men  good  and  happy  both  in 
this  and  in  the  future  world. 

"Perhaps  you  have  met  a  few  persons  who  are 
Christians  in  heart,  and  who  imitate  the  example  of 
Jesus  Christ.  What  do  you  think  of  them  ?  What 
do  you  think  of  that  religion  wrhich  has  removed 
darkness  from  their  minds,  and  made  their  hearts  love 
God  and  love  their  fellow  men  ?  Look  at  such  men. 
Are  you  not  glad  to  have  them  for  your  friends? 
They  are  the  ones  who  wish  not  only  to  do  you  good 
in  this  wrorld,  but  to  prepare  you  after  death,  (which, 
ah,  my  venerable  friend,  cannot  be  far  distant  frcm 
you  and  your  dear  wife,)  to  be  happy  for  ever  in 
Heaven. 

"Was  Jesus  Christ,  who  set  such  an  example  and 
taught  such  religion,  a  bad  man,  an  impostor  ?  You 
say,  perhaps  he  was  a  good  man.  Well,  if  he  was 
a  good  man,  he  could  not  have  spoken  falsehoods,  he 


REV.  THOS.  II.  GALEA  UDET.         233 

must  always  have  told  the  truth.  But,  if  he  told 
the  truth,  his  religion  must  be  the  true  one,  and  all 
other  religions  which  do  not  agree  with  it  must  be 
false.  He  said  he  was  the  only  Savior,  and  that  only 
by  repentance  towards  God  for  all  our  sins,  and  by 
faith  in  him  as  our  only  Savior,  we  can  be  saved 
If  this  is  not  true,  what  a  wicked  person,  what  an 
impostor,  Jesus  Christ  must  have  been !  The  Arabic 
book  which  I  send  you,  my  venerable  friend,  shows 
very  clearly  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  It  was  first  written  by  Hugo  Grotius,  a  very  wise 
and  learned  man,  who  lived  in  the  United  Nether- 
lands. It  was  translated  into  Arabic,  by  Professor 
McBride,  a  very  learned  man,  who  lives  in  Oxford, 
in  England. 

"  I  beg  you  to  read  it  carefully.  I  beg  you  to 
read  the  Arabic  Bible  carefully,  which  I  hope  you 
will  receive  from  my  friend  Mr.  King.  I  beg  you  at 
the  same  time,  to  pray  Almighty  God,  that  he  would 
guide  you  by  his  wisdom  into  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  religion ;  for,  my  venerable  friend,  how  impor- 
tant it  is,  that  we  should  find  and  embrace  the  true 
religion !     You,  whose  soul  will  so  soon  be  in  eternity. 

11  May  the  Holy  Spirit  lead  you  in  the  way  of  truth, 
of  safety,  and  of  peace.  Is  not  Jesus  Christ  just  such 
a  Savior,  just  such  a  teacher,  just  such  a  guide,  just 
such  a  protector,  just  such  a  friend  as  you  and  I  need 
in  a  world  like  this,  so  full  of  disappointments,  of 
sorrow,  and  of  sin  ?  Shall  we  not  need  him  when  we 
die,  and  when  our  souls  appear  at  the  judgment  seat 
at  the  last  day  ? 

"  I  heard,  yesterday,  that  some  family  near  this 
city  had  a  long  letter   in   Arabic,  which   you  wrote 


234  LIFE   AND   LAEOES   OF 

when  you  first  came  to  this  country,  in  Charleston, 
S.  C.  I  rode  seven  miles  last  evening,  to  try  to  find 
this  letter.  I  did  not  succeed;  but  I  heard  something 
about  it,  and  I  will  try  to  procure  it  and  send  it  to 
you.  Please  to  write  me  as  soon  as  you  receive  this 
letter,  and  tell  me  how  soon  you  expect  to  embark, 
and  to  what  place  I  shall  direct  another  letter  to  you. 
Give  kind  regards  to  your  wife  and  children,  all  of 
whom,  as  well  as  yourself,  I  commend  to  the  pro- 
tection and  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  beseeching 
him  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  guide  you  all, 
after  the  trials  and  changes  of  this  short  and  uncertain 
life,  to  the  mansions  of  eternal  rest.  I  am,  my  vener- 
able friend,  your  friend  in  truth, 

"  THO]tfAS  H.  GALLAUDET." 

This  is  a  very  interesting  letter  in  itself,  and  es- 
pecially so,  as  showing  that  while  Mr.  Gallaudet  was 
one  of  the  most  active  and  successful  agents  in  pro- 
curing the  manumission  of  the  prince's  family,  he 
was  tenderly  anxious  for  his  spiritual  and  eternal 
well-being.  He  could  not  be  satisfied  till  he  had 
done  what  in  him  lay,  to  make  his  venerable  friend 
free  indeed. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  Mr.  Gallaudet 
retained  a  lively  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
colonization  cause  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  never 
enlisted  in  any  cause  till  he  had  investigated  its  claims, 
and  when  once  he  had  become  satisfied  that  it  was 
a  cause  which  needed  and  deserved  his  support,  he 
was  not  the  man  to  say,  "I  pray  thee,  have  me  ex- 
cused." He  did  not  stop  to  ask,  "  Is  it  popular?  Is 
it  certain  to  succeed  ?  "     Enough  for  him,  that  it  was 


REV.    TnOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  235 

a  good  cause,  and  in  his  judgment  ought  to  succeed; 
and   the  fewer   friends  it   had  in   its   infancy,  or   its 
reverses,  the   more   tenaciously  would  he  cling  to  it. 
He  believed  that  the  American  Colonization  Society 
promised  more   for   the   ultimate   extinction    of   the 
slave  trade,  by  the  planting  of  free  colonies  of  colored 
emigrants  from   the  United  States,  on   the   coast  of 
Africa,  for  bettering    the  condition  of  the  emigrants 
and   their    posterity  throughout    all  generations,   for 
helping  to  solve  that  most  difficult  of  all  problems,  how 
and  where  are  the  millions  of  the  black  race  in  this 
country  ever  to  be  made  free  and  for  spreading  the 
blessings  of  civilization  and  the  Gospel  throughout  a 
vast  and  barbarous  continent,  than  any  other,  perhaps 
than  all  other  human  agencies  put  together.     These 
hopes  cheered  him,  when  flesh  and  heart  were  failing. 
It  is  not  given  us  to  know  how  he  regards  the  enter- 
prise now ;  but  we  are  sure  he  will  shout  the  victory, 
when  Africa  from  all  her  shores,  and  all  her  vast 
interior,   shall   stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God,  and 
shall,  by  his  Son,  be  made  free  indeed. 

NEW  ENGLAND  ASYLUM  FOR  THE  BLIND. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  dates  of  the  following  cor- 
respondence between  Mr.  Gallaudet  and  the  projectors 
of  that  now  prosperous  institution,  that  they  had  their 
eye  upon  him  as  its  first  principal,  before  he  left  the 
Asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  Hartford.  To  learn 
that  there  was  a  probability  of  his  leaving  soon,  was 
sufficient  with  them  to  take  care  that  others  who  wanted 
his  services  should  not  anticipate  them.  How  very 
desirous  they  were  to  obtain  him,  and  how  they  perse- 


236  LTFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

vered  in  their  application,  as  long  as  there  was  any 
hope,  these  letters  show. 

William  H.  Prescott  and  others  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Boston,  August  2d,  1830. 

"  Sir, — Messrs.  Fisher  and  Prescott  reported,  at  a 
late  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  New  England  Asy- 
lum for  the  Blind,  the  conversation  which  took  place 
between  you  and  them,  in  their  visit  to  Hartford  in 
July  last,  in  which  you  expressed  your  opinion  relative 
to  the  best  mode  of  conducting  the  proposed  institu- 
tion, and  particularly  in  reference  to  the  expediency 
of  employing  some  principal  person  or  superintendent, 
who  might  acquaint  himself  with  the  discipline  of 
similar  institutions  in  Europe,  and  have  the  respon- 
sible management  of  this  at  home.  The  Trustees,  on 
consideration  of  the  subject,  are  perfectly  agreed  with 
you,  as  to  the  necessity  of  obtaining  some  such  indi- 
vidual, in  order  to  conduct  the  undertaking  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue.  And  although  you  declined  at  the  time 
engaging  in  it,  yet  the  Trustees  are  induced,  by  the 
friendly  interest  which  you  expressed  for  the  institu- 
tion, as  well  as  from  your  general  benevolence,  and 
the  uncommon  facilities  which  your  large  experience 
in  the  management  of  similar  establishments  gives  you, 
to  hope  that  you  may  be  persuaded  to  review. your 
determination,  and  consent  to  connect  yourself  with  us. 

"  We  are  desired,  in  behalf  of  the  Trustees,  to  re- 
quest you  would  take  the  matter  into  consideration, 
and  see  if  you  cannot  make  it  compatible  with  your 
arrangements  to  associate  yourself  with  our  under- 
taking, at  least  until  it  shall  have  been  put  in  success- 
ful operation. 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  237 

"Should  this,  on  the  whole,  be  inexpedient,  you 
will  oblige  us  if  you  can  designate  any  individual  who 
you  think  would  be  equal  to  the  duties  of  the  office 
of  superintendent,  as  well  as  to  explain  to  us  what,  in 
your  opinion,  would  be  the  probable  expense  of  send- 
ing him  to  Europe  with  the  purpose  of  importing  a 
blind  instructor,  and  acquainting  himself  with  the 
system  of  instruction  pursued  there. 

"  There  are  many  poifcts,  indeed,  in  which  it  would 
be  extremely  desirable  to  have  the  benefit  of  your 
counsel,  which,  however,  could  be  done  much  better 
by  personal  conference  than  by  writing.  As  a  Board 
of  Trustees  is  somewhat  too  bulky  a  body  to  make 
such  an  excursion,  will  you  permit  us  to  say,  that  it 
will  give  us  great  pleasure  if  you  can,  at  any  time, 
make  it  convenient  to  pay  us  a  visit  at  Boston,  and 
allow  us  to  pay  the  expenses  of  it.  Whether  you 
consent  to  take  a  part  in  our  charitable  design  or  not, 
the  Trustees  would  consider  it  a  great  favor,  as  well 
as  benefit,  to  have  the  opportunity  of  personal  com- 
munication with  you. 

"  Believe  us,  sir,  with  great  respect, 

"WM.  H.  PRESCOTT, 
JOHN  D.  FISHER, 
"  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet."  WM.  P.  MASON. 


Mr.  Gallaudet1  s  answer  to  the  foregoing. 

"  Hartford,  Sept.  6th,  1830. 

"  To  Messrs.  Wm.  H.  Prescott,  Jno.  D.  Fisher,  and  Wm.  P. 

Mason,  Committee  on  behalf  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Asylum 

for  the  Blind  in  Boston  : 

"  Gentlemen,— Please  to  present  my  thanks  to  the 

Trustees  of  the  New  England  Asylum  for  the  Blind, 


238  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

for  the  expression  of  their  confidence  in  me  which  is 
contained  in  your  late  letter.  I  feel  a  deep  interest  in 
your  undertaking,  and  earnestly  pray  that  the  blessing 
of  Almighty  God  may  rest  upon  it. 

"  To  such  a  call  of  Providence,  at  the  very  moment 
when  I  am  about  to  leave  a  similar  sphere  of  labor,  I 
feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  give  a  deliberate  and  serious 
consideration.  At  present,  however,  there  is  so  much 
uncertainty  attending  the  subject,  that  I  wish  you  to 
act  as  if  you  could  place  no  dependence  upon  me,  and 
endeavor  still  to  find  the  suitable  person.  I,  also,  will 
aid  in  the  search. 

"  My  engagements  with  the  Asylum  will  end  the 
latter  part  of  October.  If  my  life  and  health  are 
spared,  some  time  during  the  autumn  I  will  visit  Bos- 
ton, as  you  request,  and  afford  you  any  farther  aid  in 
my  power,  so  far  as  my  past  experience  will  qualify 
me  to  do  it.  In  the  meanwhile  I  earnestly  hope  that 
Providence  may  furnish  you  with  the  individual  to 
undertake  and  carry  to  a  successful  result  your  highly 
benevolent  and  interesting  project. 

"Yours,  &c. 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


Mr.  Prescott  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Boston,  Dec.  6th,  1830. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  received  your  letter  from  New 
York  in  due  season,  for  which  I  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you.  I  will  thank  you  to  communicate,  as  soon  as 
you  can  conveniently,  the  returns  of  the  number  of 
blind  in  New  York  and  Connecticut.     I  have  written 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  239 

letters  for  the  same  purpose  to  the  marshals  of  the 
different  States  in  New  England. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  last  week,  the  terms 
which  you  left  with  me  were  unanimously  approved. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  petition  to 
Congress  for  a  grant  of  land.  A  meeting  of  the  cor- 
poration will  be  held  next  week  for  the  purpose  of 
changing  the  name  of  the  institution,  and  of  extending 
the  benefit  of  instruction  gratis  to  individuals  sent  to 
our  Asylum  by  the  other  States  of  the  Union.  The 
terms  offered  by  the  New  York  University  to  you 
appear  to  be  very  liberal ;  as  I  do  not  understand  you 
to  state,  however,  what  is  to  be  your  permanent  salary, 
I  cannot  compare  them  with  those  offered  by  us.  Our 
propositions,  which  in  fact  were  your  own,  may  be 
considered  as  amounting  to  a  permanent  salary  of  at 
least  twenty-four  hundred  dollars  a  year.  The  restric- 
tions with  which  they  are  accompanied,  for  the  reasons 
assigned  to  you,  are  of  such  a  natrfre  as,  I  should 
think,  could  not  in  any  degree  deter  you  from  accept- 
ing them.  The  only  real  contingency,  which  might 
at  first  sight  appear  unfavorable,  is  the  uncertainty  of 
the  funds.  I  say  at  first  sight,  for  I  believe  that  any 
one  who  considers  the  claims  of  this  institution,  its 
affecting  character,  and  the  liberal  patronage  which 
has  been  bestowed  on  similar,  though  much  less  in- 
teresting establishments,  cannot  doubt  for  a  moment 
of  its  entire  success. 

"  All  these  things,  however,  you  can  estimate  as  well 
as  I  can ;  and  its  advantages  to  yourself  personally, 
as  compared  with  other  offers,  much  better.  With 
the  wish  that  you  may  select  that  occupation  which 
is  best  suited  to  your  own  character,  and  to  the  ful- 


240  LIFE  AND   LABOKS  OF 

lest  exercise  of  the  benevolence  with,  which  you  are 
animated.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  sincerely, 

"WM.  H.  PKESCOTT." 


From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"  Boston,  Dec.  20, 1830. 

11  Dear  Sir, — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the 
17th,  and  regret  to  find  the  tenor  of  it  so  unpropitious 
to  our  wishes.  Before  communicating  its  contents  to 
the  Trustees,  allow  me  to  ask  you  if  there  is  any  thing 
in  the  nature  of  the  restrictions  which  may  influence 
you  unfavorably  in  coming  to  a  decision.  If  there  be, 
it  had  better  be  unequivocally  stated,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced it  will  not  be  permitted  to  be  an  impediment 
to  our  mutual  agreement. 

"  I  shall  defer  communicating  your  letter  to  the 
Trustees  until  I  have  again  heard  from  you.  I  trust, 
upon  reviewing  the  matter,  it  will  present  itself  in  a 
more  auspicious  light.  I  cannot  give  up  the  hope  of 
your  connecting  yourself  with  us,  in  an  undertaking 
for  which  you  seem  so  well  qualified  by  your  character 
and  experience,  and  in  which  I  cannot  but  think  you 
will  have  the  power  of  conferring  a  more  extensive 
benefit  on  your  fellow-creatures  than  in  any  other. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  sir,  yours  with  much  esteem, 

"  WM.  H.  PRESCOTT." 


From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"  Boston,  Jan.  3d,  1831. 
"Dear  Sir, — I  must  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  27th  ult.,  and  must  thank  you  for 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  241 

the  volume  of  your  sermons  which,  you  have  sent  me, 
which,  however,  is  still  upon  the  road. 

"I  am  grieved  to  see,  by  the  newspaper  you  sent 
me,  the  death  of  Miss  Cogswell.  She  doubtless  fell  a 
victim  to  her  attachment  to  her  father,  heightened, 
probably,  by  her  peculiar  situation,  which  had  exclu- 
ded her  from  general  intercourse,  in  some  degree,  and 
concentrated  her  affections  more  on  home.  His  death, 
occurring  in  the  fullness  of  years,  had  nothing  in  it 
surprising ;  but  I  can  hardly  realize  that  one  whom  I 
so  lately  saw,  blooming  with  health  and  animated  with 
the  joyous  hopes  of  young  life,  should  have  gone  too. 
It  is  one  of  the  many  lessons  that  press  unheeded  on 
us,  of  the  equally  frail  tenure  by  which  all  ages  hold 
their  existence  here.  The  loss  must  be  severely  felt 
by  your  wife,  as  well  as  yourself,  with  whom,  believe 
me,  I  sincerely  sympathize. 

"Your  letter  has  been  laid  before  the  Trustees  of 
the  Asjdurn,  who  are  not  willing  to  relinquish  the 
hope  of  }*our  eventually  connecting  yourself  with  our 
institution  ;  but  they  will  not  at  present  disturb  you 
with  any  communications  respecting  it,  although,  in 
the  course  of  a  fortnight,  you  may  expect  to  hear 
from  them.  The  situation  of  }Tour  family  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  may  perhaps  make  it  inconvenient  for 
you  to  visit  Washington  this  session,  to  enforce  our 
claims  there.  I  am  requested,  however,  to  consult 
you  respecting  this  matter,  which  is  disconnected  from 
your  ultimately  taking  part  in  our  undertaking.  Per- 
haps such  a  journey,  should  it  be  deemed  expedient, 
might  afford  a  not  unseasonable  relief  to  your  mind. 
We  should  all,  however,  be  extremely  unwilling  to 
urge  any  thing  upon  you  which  might  be  in  the 
11 


242  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

slightest  degree  either  inconvenient  or  disagreeable, 
so  I  beg  you  will  answer  frankly  on  this  point. 
"  Believe  me,  dear  sir,  with  much  regard, 
"  Your  friend  and  ser't, 

"  WM.  H.  PKESCOTT." 


Wm.  P.  Mason,  and  others,  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Bostox,  Feb.  14th,  1831. 

"  Dear  Sir, — We  feel  great  regret  that  you  do  not 
yet  make  up  your  mind  to  take  charge  of  our  young 
institution.  Your  objections  to  a  voyage  to  Europe, 
founded  on  Mrs.  Gallaudet's  state  of  health,  and  on  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  person  to  take  care  of 
your  domestic  concerns  during  your  absence,  are  cer- 
tainly entitled  to  serious  consideration.  The  first  of 
these,  however,  might  be  obviated  by  jDOStponing  your 
visit  until  your  wufe's  recovery ;  and  as  to  the  second 
we  cannot  but  think,  by  taking  time  for  it,  some  suit- 
able person  may  be  found  to  superintend  your  family 
during  the  short  time,  only,  which  in  all  probability 
it  will  be  needful  for  you  to  be  absent. 

"  The  more  we  think  of  our  undertaking,  the  more 
sanguine  we  feel  of  its  success.  It  has  not  been  the 
character  of  New  England  to  be  deaf  to  the  calls  of 
humanity,  and  surely  there  have  been  few  more  urgent 
or  more  attractive  in  their  nature  than  this  ;  and  the 
encouragement  we  have  already  experienced  from  the 
public,  with,  we  may  say,  scarcely  any  efforts  on  our 
part,  may  be  fairly  taken  as  a  good  earnest  for  the 
future.  We  should  feel  still  more  sanguine,  however, 
were  you  to  put  yourself  at  the  head  of  the  institu- 


KEV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  243 

tion,  for  which  you  are  so  well  qualified  by  your  per- 
sonal character  and  large  experience.  ^Ve  doubt, 
moreover,  if  there  be  any  sphere  in  which  your  pe- 
culiar talents  can  be  more  beneficially  or  widely  ex- 
erted ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  occupation  would 
be  one  of  great  interest  in  itself,  as  affording  an  oppor- 
tunity for  studying  mental  phenomena,  by  no  means 
as  yet  fully  understood,  and  of  studying  them  not 
merely  for  purposes  of  scientific  curiosity,  but  of  ap- 
plication to  the  relief  to  a  large  class  of  fellow-creatures. 
Your  residence,  whether  in  or  near  Boston,  will  afford 
you  as  great  facilities  for  pursuing  your  own  private 
studies,  whatever  they  may  be ;  and,  Ave  may  be  per- 
mitted to  add,  for  enjoying  the  society  of  men  of 
science  and  cultivation  in  as  great  a  degree,  perhaps, 
as  in  any  other  great  town  in  our  country.  ~\Ve  say 
nothing  of  the  pecuniary  prospects  held  out,  although 
contingent  on  the  ultimate  success  of  our  enterprise, 
yet  this  appears  so  little  doubtful,  if  prudently  con- 
ducted, that,  at  least  as  far  as  regards  your  own  prov- 
ince, they  can.  we  hope,  be  calculated  upon  with 
considerable  certainty.  You  will  excuse  us  for  laying 
these  views  again  before  you,  which  we  are  desirous 
of  doing  before  you  come  to  a  decision ;  and  we  shall 
defer  any  communication,  should  we  eventually  con- 
clude to  make  one,  with  Mr.  Yaughan,  until  we  have 
heard  from  you  definitively  on  the  subject. 
"  Believe  us,  sir,  with  great  esteem, 

"Your  ob't  serv'ts, 

"WM.  P.  MASOX, 
EDWARD  BROOKS, 
WM.  H.  PRE3C0TT." 


244  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

Mr.  Gallaudefs  answer. 

"  Hartford,  Feb.  24th,  1831. 

"  Gentlemen, — I  have  been  deliberating,  with  no 
small  degree  of  concern,  on  your  communication  of 
the  14th  inst,  which  I  received  a  few  days  since. 

"I  cannot  yet  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to. engage  in 
your  service.  The  peculiar  situation  of  my  family 
weighs  heavily  upon  my  mind,  and  presents  an  obstacle 
ivhich  I  see  not  how  to  remove.  Did  I  not  suppose  that 
other  individuals  could  be  found  abundantly  com- 
petent to  carry  the  enterprise  into  effect,  I  should  feel 
the  obligation  pressing  upon  me  with  a  force  scarcely 
to  be  resisted.  May  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  hearing 
of  your  progress,  and  command  my  services  whenever 
they  will  be  of  any  use  to  you. 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


Mr.  Fisher  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Boston,  June  27th,  1831. 

"  Dear  Sir, — Our  institution  will,  I  think,  in  the 
course  of  time  be  extensive  in  its  operations,  and  will 
not  only  provide  means  of  instruction  to  the  young, 
but  will  provide  employment  for  those  who  have  re- 
ceived and  completed  their  education ;  so  that,  at  no 
very  distant  period,  there  will  be  a  community  of 
blind  persons  collected  together  and  enjoying  the  ad- 
vantages which  result  from  the  union  of  labor  and 
the  interchange  of  thought  and  sentiment. 

"  Over  such  a  community  it  is  desirable,  and  to  my 
mind  it  is   of  immense  importance,    that  a  person 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  245 

should  preside  who  should  have  the  true  interests  of 
the  helpless  blind  at  heart,  and  who  knows  how  to 
govern  the  human  mind  and  to  direct  its  thoughts. 
The  duties  of  such  an  office  would  be  various,  and 
would  extend  to  all  the  operations  of  religious,  mental 
and  mechanical  instruction,  and  every  department  of 
government.  For  the  Trustees  wish  that  he  who 
should  be  appointed  the  instructor  should  take  the 
whole  and  the  entire  direction,  and  propose  such  laws 
and  regulations  as  to  his  mind  should  seem  best  adapted 
to  promote  the  interests  of  the  blind.  The  Trustees, 
without  an  exception,  say  that  they  are  determined  to 
have  a  person  of  the  proper  qualifications,  and  that 
his  religious  opinions  will  not  be  questioned,  provided 
he  has  the  other  requisite  qualifications.  They  have, 
while  speaking  of  you,  (and  I  state  the  fact,  for  I  have 
understood  that  one  consideration  has  operated  to 
induce  you  to  decline  the  offer  which  the  Trustees 
proposed,  viz :  the  fear  that  your  peculiar  religious 
sentiments  would  not  be  agreeable  to  the  Board,)  I 
say  that  they  have,  while  speaking  of  you,  expressed 
the  wish  that  the  person  who  should  take  charge  of 
the  institution  should  be  orthodox  in  his  religious 
sentiments,  for  they  believe  that  it  would  be  for  the 
interests  of  the  institution  to  be  governed  by  such  a 
person. 

"  Your  obedient  serv't, 

"  JOHX  D.  FISHER." 


246  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"  Boston,  Aug.  24th,  1831. 
"  Kev.  and  Dear  Sir, — I  had  the  pleasure  of  a  call 
from  the  Eev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  this  morning,  from 
whom  I  learned  that  you  were  anxious  to  learn  what 
progress  we  have  made  towards  the  establishment  of 
our  Asylum  for  the  instruction  of  the  blind.  I  am 
happy  to  be  able  to  say,  that  our  prospects  are  now 
bright  for  a  speedy  establishment  of  a  coiirse  of  in- 
struction. The  Trustees,  about  twelve  days  since, 
appointed  Dr.  Samuel  Gr.  Howe,  the  friend  of  the 
Greeks,  to  take  charge  of  the  institution,  and  he  is 
now  on  his  way  to  Europe.  I,  as  one  of  the  Trustees, 
have  regretted  much  that  your  feelings  would  not 
allow  you  to  assume  this  charge ;  but,  since  we  could 
not  hope  for  the  advantages  of  your  services,  we  have 
availed  ourselves  of  those  of  our  fellow-townsman — 
a  gentleman  who  is  highly  appreciated  and  respected. 
We  hope  his  exertions  and  success  will  answer  our 
expectations.  "We,  sir,  shall  always  feel  under  obli- 
gations to  you  for  the  interest  you  have  shown  towards 
our  cause,  and  hope  that  we  shall  often  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  your  advice  and  influence. 
' '  Your  ob't  and  humble  serv't, 

"JOHN  D.  FISHER." 

Other  letters  passed  between  Mr.  Gallaudet  and  the 
gentlemen  charged  with  the  duty  of  finding  a  com- 
petent man  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Asylum ; 
but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  their  high  estimate  of 
his  character  and  qualifications  for  the  office,  and  how 
anxious  they  were  to  secure  his  services.     Though  he 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  247 

felt  it  his  duty  to  decline,  he  ever  after  retained  a 
lively  interest  in  its  prosperity  and  increasing  use- 
fulness. 

THE  NEW  YORK   UNIVERSITY, 

While  the  correspondence  was  going  on  between 
Mr.  Gallaudet  and  the  Asylum  for  the  Blind,  which 
now  holds  so  high  a  rank  among  the  benevolent  insti- 
tutions of  New  England,  the  friends  of  education  were 
organizing  a  University  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
looking  round  for  men  of  established  character  and 
scholarship  to  take  charge  of  it.  They  did  not  allow 
it  to  escape  them  that  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  about  to  retire 
from  the  American  Asylum  for  Deaf  Mutes,  in  Hart- 
ford, and  they  wanted  him  to  help  carry  forward  their 
new  magnificent  enterprise.  Accordingly  several  gen- 
tlemen were  charged  with  the  agency  of  consulting 
him ;  and  they  lost  no  time,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
dates  of  the  following  letters.  It  appears  that  there 
had  been  some  previous  correspondence,  which  I  have 
not  been  able  to  find ;  and  the  department  M r.  Gallau- 
det would  have  filled  in  the  University  had  he  con- 
sented to  an  election,  will  be  seen  in  the  last  of  these 
letters. 

Dr.  Matthews  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"New  York,  Dec.  3d,  1830. 
"  My  Dear  Friend, — 1  have  just  returned  from  the 
council,  where  your  appointment  on  the  terms  proposed 
was  passed  unanimously  with  great  cordiality.  Come  ! 
come,  by  all  means !  There  is  a  feeling  towards  you, 
which  was   shown  voluntarily,   and  which   indicates 


248  LIFE   AND   LABOKS   OF 

much,  both  as  to  comfort  and  duty.    Let  me  hear  from 

you  soon,  and  believe  me, 

"Most  truly  yours, 

"J.  M.  MATTHEWS." 


The  same  to  the  same. 

"  December  14th,  1830. 
"  Dear  Sir,  —  Everything  is  fixed  just  to  your 
wishes,  and  I  am  every  day  asked,  '  Any  news  from 
Mr.  Gallaudet  ?  '  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  you  with 
us ;  and  I  am  more  and  more  persuaded  that  the  Lord 
moves  this  way.  «  J.  M.  M." 

From  J.  Delafield  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  December  14th,  1830. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — When  shall  we  see  you  in  our 
good  city  ?  The  sooner  you  can  be  with  us  and  amongst 
us  the  better ;  and  the  more  frequent  the  communication 
between  you  and  myself,  the  more  agreeable  it  will  be 
to  me.  I  pray  you  not  to  forget  that  my  last  parting 
words  assured  you  a  bed  in  our  quiet  domicil  at  your 
next  visit.  Among  other  matters  on  the  carpet,  a 
course  of  lectures  is  talked  of  by  Mr.  Gallatin ;  another 
by  Judge  Betts;  and' why  not  another  by  Mr.  Gallau- 
det ?  Such  is  the  language  of  the  day,  though  I  con- 
fess, as  an  individual  opinion,  it  does  not  appear  expe- 
dient to  open  any  lectures  until  we  can  come  before 
the  public  in  our  wedding  garment,  and  well  prepared 
to  assume  and  sustain  a  dignified  and  an  imposing  ap- 
pearance. 

"  I  am,  very  truly  and  respectfully,  yours, 

"J.  DELAFIELD." 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  249 

Dr.  Matthews  to  Mr,  Gallaadet. 

"  New  York,  Jan.  1st,  1831. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — Things  seem  ripening  very  fast  for 
giving  the  appointment  of  the  Philosophy  of  Education 
to  a  certain  gentleman  in  Hartford,  if  we  conld  only 
see  him  fairly  in  the  University  harness.  Let  me  at 
once  say,  we  do  need  you  exceedingly.  We  need  you 
for  Albany,  and  we  need  you  for  New  York,  and  I 
assure  you  there  is  great  anxiety  with  others  as  well 
as  myself  for  your  answer.     Truly  yours, 

"J.  M.  MATTHEWS." 


From  Mr.  Comptroller  Flagg  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"Albany,  Jan.  17th,  1831. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — Judge  Betts  informed  me  of  the 
prospect  of  connecting  you  with  the  University.  I 
was  greatly  rejoiced  to  hear  of  this,  and  I  hope  it  may 
be  brought  about.  Nothing  will  be  done  in  regard  to 
a  Seminary  for  teachers  by  the  State,  and  I  hope  we 
may  look  to  the  University  for  help  in  this  matter.  I 
have  alluded  to  this  in  my  annual  report,  which  I  in- 
close to  you.  The  superintendent  has  been  informed 
by  a  gentleman  connected  with  the  proposed  Univers- 
ity in  New  York,  that  it  was  in  contemplation  to 
establish  a  department  for  the  special  education  of 
teachers,  and  that  negotiations  were  going  on  with  a 
gentleman  of  great  experience  in  the  art  of  teaching, 
and  who  is  eminently  qualified  to  take  charge  of  such 
a  department.  The  consummation  of  this  plan  for 
training  teachers  is  much  to  be  desired,  and  it  has  de- 
cided advantages  over  a  State  Seminary  for  that  pur- 
pose. Yours,  truly,  »  "  A.  C.  FLAGG." 
11* 


250  LIFE   AND   LABOES  OF 

From  Mr.  Dwight  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  New  York,  Feb.  1st,  1831. 
"  My  Dear  Sib, — You  will  learn  from  the  newspa- 
pers that  the  election  of  officers  of  the  University  has 
been  made.  I  presume,  of  course,  that  you  will  feel 
no  hesitation  in  entering  upon  the  duties  of  your  em- 
ployment, and  I  am  sure  that  your  services  are  regarded 
as  immediately  necessary.  Doctor  M.  has  this  day 
requested  me  to  signify  this  to  you,  and  this  will  ac- 
count for  my  addressing  you  on  the  subject.  I  cannot 
but  feel  that  the  undertaking  is  one  of  a  nature  well 
corresponding  with  your  taste  and  talents,  and  I  anti- 
cipate great  benefits  to  the  Institution,  or  the  branches 
connected  with  it,  to  the  State,  and  the  practical  science 
of  instruction,  from  the  early  enlistment  of  your  exer- 
tions in  the  undertaking.  It  appears  that  the  gentle- 
men wish  to  make  an  early,  or  rather,  I  believe,  an 
immediate  attempt  with  the  Legislature  at  Albany, 
for  the  laying  of  some  foundation  or  department  of 
Common  School  instruction,  and  are  desirous  of  your 
assistance  there.  The  present  appears  to  me  a  pecu- 
liarly favorable  time  to  make  a  movement  on  that  im- 
portant subject. 

"  Yours,  very  truly,  «T.  DWIGHT,  Jun." 


From  Dr.  Matthews  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  New  York,  July  6th,  1831. 
"  Deab  Sib, — Could  you  not  take  a  run  down  to 
see  us,  or  let  me  know  something  of  what  you  con- 
template?    In  the   course   of   this   month,  we  make 
several  nominations  for  professorships,  and,  with  regard 


REV.   THOS.    H.   GALLAUDET.  251 

to  yourself,  I  find  but  one  sentiment.  I  need  not  tell 
you  what  it  is.  New  York  is  the  place  for  you,  my 
friend,  with  its  thousand  avenues  to  usefulness,  both 
in  religion  and  literature.  When  will  you  be  at 
home  ?  I  feel  much  inclined  to  take  a  run  up  to  see 
you,  if  I  can  make  it  possible. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  J.  M.  MATTHEWS." 


"  New  York,  July  6th,  1832. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — Yesterday  you  were  unanimously 
appointed  Professor  of  the  Philosophy  of  Education, 
in  our  University.  It  will  be  quite  satisfactory,  if 
your  health  would  so  permit,  should  you  begin  as 
you  proposed,  by  a  few  lectures  on  the  subject  next 
winter  or  spring.  At  any  rate,  "  no,"  is  a  word  not 
to  be  pronoun^d  in  this  case, 

"  Other  appointments  are  to  be  made  next  week,  in 
addition  to  the  five  made  yesterday,  which  were 
Gallaudet,  Yathek,  Douglas,  Torrey,  Mcllvaine.  All 
will  be  announced  together. 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"  J.  M.  MATTHEWS." 

High  as  these  expectations  were  on  the  part  of  the 
friends  of  the  University,  and  of  the  cause  of  general 
education  in  the  State  of  New  York,  none  who  were  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Gallaudet  and  his  enthusiastical  de- 
votion to  the  great  interests  of  Education  in  all  its 
departments,  can  doubt  that  he  would  have  filled  any 
station  to  which  he  might  have  been  promoted,  with  dis- 
tinguished credit  and  usefulness.  But  under  the  over- 
ruling providence  of  God,  the  New  York  University 
was  not  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  his  labors. 


252  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

I  have  said  that  Mr.  Gallaudet  had  a  great  many 
urgent  applications  from  committees  and  individ- 
uals, to  identify  himself  as  a  teacher  in  the  cause  of 
education,  as  soon  as  he  left  the  Asylum  for  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  ;  and  some  of  them  were  before  he 
left.  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  num- 
ber, nor,  indeed,  is  it  necessary.  Dartmouth  College, 
the  Oneida  Institute,  the  Utica  Female  Seminary, 
the  Norwich  Female  Seminary,  the  High  School  at  Bur- 
lington, New  Jersey,  New  York  High  School,  the 
Cincinnati  Seminary,  all  wanted  him,  and  most  of 
them  were  exceedingly  pressing  in  their  applications, 
as  the  Asylum  for  the  Blind,  and  the  New  York  Uni- 
versity, had  been  before.  A  large  number  of  these 
letters  have  come  into  my  hands,  from  which  I  select 
the  following  as  fair  specimens  of  their  general  tone. 

Thomas  R.  Mercein  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  New  York,  January  30th,  1829. 

"  Dear  Sir, — A  vacancy  has  recently  occurred  in 
the  New  York  High  School,  in  consequence  of  the 
decease  of  the  late  Mr.  Baimes,  one  of  the  associate 
principals. 

"  The  trustees,  desirous  of  engaging  a  principal  of 
distinguished  reputation  to  fill  the  vacancy,  have  au- 
thorized a  Committee  (of  which  I  am  Chairman)  to 
make  application  to  you,  to  ascertain  whether  it  would 
suit  your  views  and  wishes  to  accept  the  situation. 

"  I  have  been  informed  by  Dr.  Griscom,  that  you 
inspected  the  school  when  on  a  visit  to  this  city  last 
summer,  and  hence,  are  somewhat  acquainted  with  its 
location,  appearance,  and  general  character. 


REV.   THOS,    II.    GALLAUDET.  253 

M  The  income  of  the  Principal  is  not  definitely  fixed, 
but  will  in  some  measure  depend  on  the  success  of 
the  institution.  It  may,  however,  be  safely  estimated 
at  not  less  than  $1500,  or  more  than  $2250  per 
annum. 

"Presuming  that  you  would  not  be  disposed  to 
enter  into  so  important  engagement  without  a  pre- 
vious visit  and  interview  with  the  Committee,  in 
which  all  necessary  information  can  be  given,  I  am 
authorized,  and  with  great  pleasure  invite  you  to  visit 
the  city,  and  to  add,  that  in  case  of  non-acceptance, 
your  expenses  will  be  paid  by  the  Board. 

"It  is  my  duty  to  state,  that  the  situation  of  the 
senior  department  is  such,  as  to  require  immediate 
and  efficient  aid,  and  I  therefore  indulge  the  hope, 
that  you  will  afford  the  Committee  a  very  early  op- 
portunity of  submitting  your  answer  to  the  Board.  I 
am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  THOMAS  R.  MERCEIX.'' 

"  P.  S.  I  heard  from  one  of  your  friends,  that  it  was 
doubtful  whether  you  were  in  Boston  or  at  home,  and 
hence  have  written  this  duplicate  addressed  Boston." 

Writing  to  Mr.  Gallaudet,  with  regard  to  the  pro- 
jected establishment  of  a  teachers'  seminary  in  An- 
dover,  the  professors  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
there,  thus  express  their  views  and  wishes. 

To  Mr.  Gallaudet 

"  Axdoyer,  November  2nd,  1835. 
"  Dear  Sir, — The  doings  of  the  trustees  and  their 
committee  have  been  communicated  to  us,  and  after 


254  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

consultation,  we  have  concluded  to  express  to  you, 
by  letter,  our  serious  convictions  as  to  the  importance 
of  the  object  to  be  accomplished,  and  as  to  the  best 
way  of  accomplishing  it. 

"  Few  institutions  have  been  established  in  our 
land,  which,  in  our  view,  have  a  better  claim  to  public 
patronage,  than  the  seminary  for  teachers  in  this  place. 
But  we  know  very  well  that  you  need  no  remarks  of 
ours  to  convince  you  of  this.  The  fact  is,  that  your 
own  remarks  have  added  much  to  the  impression  ive 
before  had,  of  the  preeminent  importance  of  such  an 
institution.  Your  engaging  in  the  business  of  in- 
struction in  the  seminary,  will  be  regarded  as  a  favor 
to  the  public,  not  to  yourself.  It  will  be  of  great 
importance  to  the  success  of  the  effort  to  secure  the 
fund,  that  your  design  to  become  a  teacher  should  be 
known. 

"  Such  is  our  conviction.  We  need  not  tell  you 
how  gratifying  it  will  be  to  us,  and  to  all  in  this 
place,  to  have  you  settled  here,  and  to  be  united  with 
you  in  the  work  we  are  attempting  to  execute  for 
the  promotion  of  learning  and  religion.  May  wis- 
dom from  above  be  abundantly  imparted  to  you, 
and  to  all  who  are  engaged  in  this  important  under- 
taking.    We  are,  dear  sir,  yours  very  sincerely, 

''LEONARD  WOODS, 
MOSES  STUART, 
RALPH  EMERSON." 

To  which  Mr.  Gallaudet  returned  the  following 
answer,  dated 

"  Hartford,  November  9th,  1835. 
"  Gentlemen, — Let  some  six  or  ten  prominent  in- 


BET.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  255 

dividual s  be  conversed  with,  or  written  to,  by  some 
persons  deeply  interested  in  the  object,  who  it  will  be 
thought  will  have  the  greatest  influence  with  them,  to 
see  if  some  few  cannot  be  found  who  will  take  hold 
strongly  and  give  very  liberally.  Then  let  a  larger 
meeting  be  agreed  upon  in  Boston,  which  I  will  en- 
deavor to  attend,  unless  the  brethren  here  should  posi- 
tively object  to  my  going,  which,  I  presume,  they  would 
not  do.  At  such  meeting  it  will  be  easy  to  determine 
whether  the  whole  thing  will  go  forward  or  not.  If 
at  such  a  meeting,  or  by  any  effort  previous  to  it,  a 
sufficient  sum  can  be  raised  to  make  the  compensation 
secure,  which  the  trustees  have  voted  to  allow  me  for 
my  services,  I  am  willing  to  consider  the  written  con- 
ditional engagement  which  I  gave  to  Mr.  Barton,  as 
binding  on  me,  and  will  make  such  subsequent  efforts, 
after  my  connection  with  the  institution,  to  raise  ad- 
ditional funds  as  may  be  necessary. 

"  To  tell  you  frankly,  I  have  all  along  felt,  and  still 
feel  more  strongly  than  ever,  that  if  the  seminary  has 
not  importance  enough  attached  to  it,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  its  friends  on  the  hill, 
and  the  circle  of  highly  intelligent  and  benevolent 
friends  of  Zion  in  Boston,  to  give  a  powerful  and 
direct  impression  to  the  effort  that  must  be  made  to 
endow  it  with  necessary  funds,  and  if  this  effort  is  to 
be  made  at  the  very  outset,  principally  by  the  indi- 
vidual whose  support  is  to  come  from  this  effort,  and 
for  which  support  indeed,  it  is  mostly  needed,  the 
time  has  not  arrived  for  such  an  individual  to  devote 
himself  to  its  interests.  For  from  all  this  it  would 
seem  that  the  public   mind  is   not  yet  prepared  to 


256  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

appreciate  the  value  of  his  services  in  such  a  sphere 
of  duty. 

"  Yerj  sincerely  yours, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 

It  was  found  that  the  necessary  fund  could  not 
be  raised,  and  so  the  enterprise  was  given  up.  The 
time  had  not  come  for  the  establishment  of  teachers' 
seminaries,  but  it  was  approaching,  and  such  efforts 
served  to  hasten  it. 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  Thomas  Eobbins  to  Mr. 
Gallaudet,  shows  how  gladly  the  Board  of  Education 
in  Massachusetts,  would  have  placed  him  at  the  head 
of  the  first  Normal  School  in  this  country. 

From  Dr.  Thomas  Bobbins. 

Rochester,  Mass.,  January  5th,  1838. 

"  Eev.  Mr.  Gallaudet, — Before  you  receive  this  I 
think  you  will  have  a  letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Davis,  of 
Westfielcl.  The  Board  of  Education,  of  this  State,  for 
the  supervision  and  improvement  of  common  schools, 
had  their  annual  meeting  last  week  at  the  Council 
Chamber  in  Boston,  and  resolved,  as  a  leading  measure 
of  their  proceedings,  to  establish  a  few  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  teachers.  I  told  them  that  you  re- 
commended such  a  measure,  in  a  series  of  well 
written  numbers,  in  a  newspaper  several  years  ago. 
The  Board  hope  to  be  able,  eventually,  to  have 
enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  state,  yet  as  it 
is  to  some  extent  a  matter  of  experiment,  they  will 
begin  with  three. 

"And  now,  Brother  Gallaudet,  we  want  you  to 
take   the   charge  of  the  first  Normal   School.     The 


KEV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  257 

object  is  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  such  a  manner,  as 
will  fit  them  for  the  best  teaching  and  management 
of  common  schools.  Probably  something  will  be 
done  in  lecturing.  It  must,  however,  be  left  in  a 
great  degree,  to  the  Principal.  There  will  be  no 
charge  for  tuition.  The  schools  are  to  be  furnished 
with  the  necessary  apparatus  and  libraries.  There 
are  several  important  reasons  why  you  should  comply 
with  our  request. 

"  1st.  I  think  this  measure  will  be  adopted  in  other 
states  extensively,  and  the  experiment  ought  to  be 
made  in  the  best  manner. 

"  2nd.  We  want  to  manufacture  the  most  of  our 
school  books.  Once  when  you  were  in  Dr.  Hawes'  study 
he  desired  you  to  turn  your  attention  to  that,  subject. 
I  do  not  think  a  correct  man  could  be  found  that 
would  be  so  acceptable  to  all,  as  yourself. 

"  3rd.  Few  men,  if  any,  are  so  conversant  with  the 
human  mind  in  its  simplest  form  as  yourself.  With 
great  respect.     Your  friend  and  brother, 

"  THOMAS  BOBBINS. 

As  early  as  1829,  Mr.  Gallaudet  entered  warmly 
into  the  plan  of  General  Cocke,  of  Virginia,  for  the 
establishment  of  a  school  of  high  order  at  Monticello, 
on  Mr.  Jefferson's  magnificent  estate  just  out  of 
Charlottesville,  which  might,  at  that  time,  have  been 
purchased  on  the  most  advantageous  terms.  He  opened 
a  correspondence  with  Dr.  Griffin  and  some  other 
prominent  friends  of  Christian  education,  on  the 
subject.  Dr.  Griffin's  answer  is  before  me,  and  is  here 
inserted. 


258  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"  Williams  College,  October  3rd,  1829. 
"  Eev.  and  Dear  Sir, — Your  very  interesting  and 
obliging  letter,  about  the  magnificent  designs  of  Gen- 
eral Cocke,  reached  me  in  vacation.  I  should  have 
answered  it  at  once,  but  I  wished  to  consult  my  col- 
leagues, who  were  absent,  respecting  the  possibility  of 
naming  any  person  or  persons  suitable  for  the  Monti- 
cello  establishment.  I  have  also  had  an  interview  with 
a  gentleman  from  New  York,  of  whom  I  made  in- 
quiries. I  am  not  able  at  present  to  name  any  person. 
The  Principal  of  that  institution  ought  to  be  a  man, 
not  only  of  piety  and  liberal  feelings,  but  of  great 
prudence  and  activity  and  management,  and  specially 
adapted  to  the  business  of  instruction.  If  General 
Cocke  does  not  succeed  at  once  in  obtaining  the  proper 
man,  I  hope  he  will  not  be  discouraged.  An  entrance 
on  such  a  sacred  and  sublime  undertaking  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  with  deep  and  unceasing  prayer, 
cannot  fail  to  succeed.  It  is  a  day  when  nothing  is 
too  much  for  the  prayer  of  faith.  The  three  objects 
presented  in  our  group,  constitute  a  halo  of  no  or- 
dinary splendor.  I  feel  gratified  and  complimented 
by  having  them  presented  to  me,  and  by  a  friend 
whom  I  sincerely  regard,  and  who,  were  he  at  leisure, 
I  should  certainly  mention  as  the  best  fitted  for  that 
station,  in  connection  with  the  Asylum  in  Charlottes- 
ville. Should  the  place  not  be  filled,  I  should  feel 
flattered  by  any  future  reference  to  me,  and  happy  to 
afford  any  aid  in  my  power.  I  thank  you  also 
for  your  letter  by  Mr.  Bartlett.  I  am,  dear  sir,  with 
great  respect  and  esteem, 


"  Your  sincere  friend, 


E.  D.  GRIFFIN." 


EEV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  259 

The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  of  the  Kev. 
Alfred  Mitchell,  to  Mr.  Gallaudet,  inviting  him  to 
Norwich,  are  here  inserted. 

"  Norwich,  January  24th,  1831: 
"  Dear  Sir, — I,  a  short  time  since,  addressed  a  few 
lines  to  you  relative  to  our  Female  Academy,  request- 
ing your  recommendation  of  some  one  to  take  charge 
of  it.  To  this  I  have  received  no  reply,  perhaps  be- 
cause taking  me  at  my  word,  you  concluded  to  do  it 
'  at  your  leisure.'  But  we  are  now  beginning  to  feel 
in  some  haste,  and  I  am  now  authorized,  as  a  member 
of  Committee,  to  confer  with  you  upon  the  subject, 
hoping  that  you  may  think  favorably  of  coming  to 
our  aid  yourself.  I  think  you  may  rely  upon  what 
I  said  in  my  first  letter,  relative  to  the  prospects  of  the 
Academy,  with  one  of  known  qualifications  and  ce- 
lebrity at  its  head.  You  know  something  of  the  dis- 
tinguished liberality  of  my  people,  and  they  are  now 
so  much  engaged  in  this  matter,  that  I  believe  they 
would  freely  make  generous  sacrifices  to  have  the 
school,  in  all  respects,  what  it  should  be.  We  are 
suffering  for  want  of  a  first  rate  Female  Seminary 
in  this  part  of  the  State,  and  wish  one  to  become  such, 
and,  doubtless,  under  your  superintendence  it  would 
be  rapidly  filled  with  pupils,  not  only  from  this  neigh- 
borhood, but  from  a  distance,  and  be  productive  of  a 
very  ample  support.  I  hope  you  will  take  into  con- 
sideration our  wants,  and  by  taking  charge  of  our 
children,  make  a  thousand  little  volumes  to  transmit 
your  name,  and  perpetuate  your  usefulness. 

"  WiD  you  have  the  goodness  to  favor  me  with  an 
early  reply  to  this?  and  if  your  own  coming  is  out 


260  LIFE   AND   LABOES  OF 

of  the  question,  will  you  mention,  as  before  requested, 
some  one  suitable  for  the  place  ?     Yours,  &c, 

"  ALFKED  MITCHELL." 

It  will  be  remembered  by  many  who  read  this 
memoir,  that  about  the  time  when  Mr.  Gallaudet  re- 
tired from  the  Asylum,  there  was  a  popular  current 
in  favor  of  connecting  manual  labor  with  academies 
and  other  educational  seminaries,  by  which  indigent 
students  might  earn  their  board  and  tuition  in  part, 
at  least,  and  all  might  be  benefited  in  their  health. 
One  of  the  earliest  and  most  popular  of  these  was  the 
Oneida  Institute,  near  Utica.  Though  experience  has 
not  answered  the  expectation  of  those  who  introduced 
the  system,  some  wise  and  practical  educators  fell 
in  with  it  for  a  time,  of  whom  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  one. 
How  desirous  the  trustees  of  the  Oneida  Institute 
were  to  secure  him  as  its  Principal,  will  be  seen  from 
the  following  official  communication. 

"  Utica,  Nov.  10th,  1831. 

"  Kev.  Sie, — We  presume  you  have  heard  of  a 
new  and  interesting  school  in  this  quarter,  called  the 
1  Oneida  Institute  of  Science  and  Industry,'  designed 
to  combine  physical  with  intellectual  education,  and 
to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  more  indigent  young 
men,  and  especially  those  of  piety  and  talents,  to  ob- 
tain scientific  instruction  at  a  comparatively  small  ex- 
pense. It  originated  about  four  years  since,  and  its 
success  hitherto  has  more  than  equaled  the  expecta- 
tions of  its  founders.  Similar  institutions  have,  since 
that  time,  arisen  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
are  multiplying.  Our  own  has  so  far  advanced  at  the 
present  time,  as  to  require  permanent  regulations  and 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  261 

arrangements  for  the  several  departments,  and  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  of  which  we  are  members,  are 
now  engaged  in  that  business.  The  whole  number 
of  students  which  our  buildings  will  accommodate  is 
one  hundred ;  and  the  number  will  not  be  increased 
very  soon,  if  ever,  although  hundreds  continue  to 
apply  for  admission  whom  we  are  compelled  to  refuse. 

"  The  reverend  gentleman  who  has  hitherto  been  at 
the  head  of  this  institution,  and  the  originator  of  the 
system,  will  very  probably  leave  us  next  spring,  to 
assist  in  rearing  a  similar  institution  at  the  West,  or 
continue  to  act  as  our  general  agent  for  a  time.  He 
has  been  employed  almost  exclusively  in  the  miscella- 
neous business  of  the  establishment  since  its  origin, 
not  in  the  instruction  of  the  students ;  nor  does  he 
wish  to  be  at  the  head  of  that  department.  We  must 
therefore  provide  a  principal  for  the  institute,  and  this 
is  the  occasion  of  our  present  address.  We  are  in- 
formed that  you  are  not  yet  engaged  in  any  course  of 
public  emploj-ment,  and  although  we  may  not  offer  to 
you  a  proposition  in  all  respects  of  the  most  flattering 
character,  we  believe  a  greater  field  of  usefulness  is 
not  often  presented,  and  that  the  situation  and  circum- 
stances of  a  principal  in  our  academy  will  not  fall 
below  your  notice. 

"  The  location  of  the  academic  buildings  is  pleasant, 
and  only  three  miles  from  this  place.  They  consist 
principally  of  a  chapel,  students'  buildings,  work-shop 
and  farm-house.  To  these  will  be  added  two  dwelling- 
houses  for  teachers,  which,  with  the  chapel  and  stu- 
dents' buildings,  will  form  an  amphitheater. 

UA  juvenile  department,  to  be  attached  to  the 
academy,  is   thought   of,  and  the  subject  is  with  a 


262  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

separate  committee.     But  schools  for  children  are  near 
the  institute,  which  is  within  the  village  of  Whitesboro'. 

"  Our  academy  is  on  the  successful  tide  of  its  pro- 
gress, and  has  fully  proved  its  capacity  for  the  objects 
intended.  It  has  attracted  attention  from  almost  every 
part  of  the  United  States.  It  originated  all  the  other 
experiments  in  the  system,  and  holds  a  conspicuous 
seat  above  them  all.  It  has  not  hitherto  met  with 
any  material  obstacles  to  its  progress  or  prosperity, 
nor  do  we  anticipate  any.  Our  pecuniary  resources 
have  been  drawn  (so  far  as  real  estate  is  concerned) 
from  the  gratuitous  liberality  of  patrons  far  and  near. 
For  the  salaries  of  the  teachers,  we  look  principally  to 
the  proceeds  of  tuition,  and  our  annual  proportion 
from  the  State  literature  fund. 

"  Our  students  occupy  their  rooms  for  study,  and 
assemble  for  recitation. 

"  Permit  us,  sir,  in  conclusion,  to  solicit  your  atten- 
tion to  this  new  and  promising  enterprise  of  the  Oneida 
Institute.  Its  varied  and  extended  utility  we  have 
not  room  to  portray.  Many  of  its  benefits,  or  those 
of  which  it  may  be  capable,  will  no  doubt  occur  to 
you.  They  thicken  and  extend  in  our  own  minds 
from  year  to  year.  Permit  us  to  hope  that  motives 
enough  may  be  found  to  induce  you  to  come  and  take 
charge  of  the  institute  early  the  next  spring.  And  so 
soon  as  your  convenience  will  admit,  will  you  favor 
us  with  a  reply  to  this  letter. 

"  We  are,  Eev.  and  dear  sir, 

"  Your  friends  and  humble  serv'ts, 

"  D.  0.  LANSING, 
S.  C.  AIKIN, 
"  Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet."  WALTER  KING. 


KEV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  263 

This  application,  though  urgently  seconded,  did  not 
succeed.  Mr.  G.  had  too  many  other  and  more  at- 
tractive calls  to  induce  him  to  go  into  any  manual 
labor  school. 

Another  urgent  application  was  from  Cincinnati. 

From  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher. 

"  Cincinnati,  Nov.  9th,  1835. 
"  My  Dear  Brother, — I  told  you  when  here,  that 
you  were  the  education  man  for  the  West,  and  that 
you  must  come.  This  conviction,  the  importance  of 
your  presence  and  influence,  has  been  steadily  increas- 
ing since  you  left.  You  can  do,  in  the  sphere  of 
securing  confidence,  and  exerting,  combining  and 
guiding  effort,  more  than  any  other  man.  The  ques- 
tion is  settled  in  my  mind,  that  your  influence  for 
education  will*  be  a  hundred  fold  greater  here  than  at 
the  East,  and  that  you  ought  not  to  spend  your  time 
merely  in  teaching,  any  more  than  a  commander-in- 
chief  of  an  army !  You  may  become  a  professor  in 
the  Cincinnati  college,  should  it  be  resuscitated  by  a 
union  with  the  "Woodward  school,  or  president  of  the 
college,  as  should  seem  best ;  though,  to  my  apprehen- 
sion, the  best  thing  would  be  to  act  at  discretion  for 
the  cause  of  education  at  the  West.  And  it  is  my 
earnest  prayer  and  hope  that  you  may  be  sent  and 
sustained,  by  the  friends  of  Christ,  to  help  us  concern- 
ing this  our  labor ;  and  if  you  have  any  hesitation, 
only  permit  our  friends  to  send  you  out  once  more  on 
an  exploring  tour. 

"Affectionately  yours, 

<  LYMAN  BEECHER." 


264  LIFE   AND   LABOES  OF 

From  Dr.  Daniel  Drake. 

"  Cincinnati,  Nov.  9th,  1835. 

"  Dear  Sir, — Ever  since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing you  in  this  city,  I  have  felt  a  desire  that  you 
should  become  its  denizen.  I  am  of  opinion  that  no 
portion  of  the  United  States  of  America  has  greater 
need  of  such  good  offices  to  the  great  cause  of  educa- 
tion as  you  are  wont  to  bestow,  and  that  you  could  no 
where  exert  so  diffusive  and  productive  an  influence. 

"  The  Cincinnati  College  was  chartered  in  1819, 
and  continued  in  operation  for  five  or  six  years.  It 
was  then  suspended,  and  the  building  went  to  decay. 
The  year  1835  has  revived  education  and  repaired  the 
building.  We  have  a  full  medical  faculty,  and  up- 
wards of  sixty  students,  and  a  full  law  faculty  and 
between  fifteen  and  twenty  students.  It  remains  to 
organize  the  academical  faculty,  and  then  to  engraft 
on  the  whole  a  class  of  pupils  preparing  for  the  busi- 
ness of  teaching  in  common  schools,  academies  and 
colleges.  The  whole  of  these  might  be  formed  into 
one  corps,  for  moral  and  professional  instruction  by 
yourself.  Out  of  the  Woodward  High  School,  amply 
endowed,  we  hope  ere  long  to  be  able  to  form  such  a 
department  for  teachers,  and  I  wish  you  to  consider 
whether  you  would  be  willing  to  take  a  professorship 
in  it.  I  should  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  in  a  gen- 
eral way  as  soon  as  is  convenient. 

"  Yours  very  respectfully, 

"  DANIEL  DRAKE." 


I  have  room  for  only  one  more  of  these  applications. 
It  was  from  the  Kev.  Cortlandt  Van  Rensselaer,  to 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  265 

come  and  unite  with  him  in  getting  up  an  important 
school,  and  conducting  a  magazine  in  Burlington,  1ST.  J. 

"  Burlington,  July  28th,  1835. 

"  My  Dear  Friend, — The  house  is  still  standing 
in  expectation  of  your  arrival ;  and  I  am  also  stand- 
ing on  the  tip-toe  of  hope,  wishing  mightily  to  see 
you  and  to  have  a  talk. 

"  I  spent  the  whole  afternoon  of  the  day  before  yes- 
terday in  conversation  with  Mr.  Chauncey,  in  reference 
to  the  school,  and  to  various  plans  of  doing  good  in 
Burlington.  He  has  the  utmost  confidence  that  the 
school  will  succeed,  and  be  in  a  prosperous  condition 
almost  immediately.  The  house  and  location  he  con- 
siders as  just  the  very  thing.  He  takes  a  deep  and 
affectionate  interest  in  the  institution.  Mr.  Chauncey 
says  that  he  will  cheerfully  become  one  of  ten  to  throw 
in  one  thousand  dollars  each  for  the  purchase  of  the 
property,  or  one  of  five  to  give  two  thousand  dollars 
each.  Can  you  not  come  here  for  a  day  and  see  how 
matters  look  ?  It  really  does  seem  to  me  as  if  thus 
much  was  now  fairly  required  of  you. 

"  I  may  remark  that  there  is  an  excellent  printing 
establishment  here,  where  wrork  can  be  done  as  neatly 
and  as  cheap,  if  not  cheaper,  than  in  Philadelphia. 
Any  books  you  might  wish  to  publish  could  be  printed 
here  as  well  as  in  Hartford.  Our  magazine  would  be 
printed  here  in  the  spring.  As  to  this,  by  the  way, 
we  must  start  it  soon.  And  would  it  not  be  well  for 
us  to  be  together  at  least  for  a  year  or  two,  so  that  we 
might  constantly  consult  together  about  the  various 
details  and  great  ends  connected  with  so  responsible  a 
work  ?  I  will  throw  out  one  more  hint.  If  it  is  ad- 
12 


266  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

visable  to  start  an  institution  of  a  high  character  in 
this  country  for  the  education  of  the  free  colored  popu- 
lation, you  may  rely  upon  it  that  there  is  no  place 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  (and  on  this 
point  I  speak  advisedly)  so  well  adapted  for  its  loca- 
tion as  Burlington  County. 

"  Oh !  may  the  Lord  be  with  us  in  all  our  plans. 
May  he  guide  you,  my  dear  and  respected  brother, 
into  all  truth  and  to  Burlington ;  and  he  shall  have 
praises,  most  sincere,  at  least  from 

"  CORTLAXDT  VAN  RENSSELAER." 


"  Burlington,  N.  J.,  Dec.  26th,  1836. 

"  Eev.  and  Dear  Brother, — I  wonder  which  way 
your  thoughts  predominantly  incline  as  regards  the  fu- 
ture ?  Have  you  entirely  given  up  the  plan  of  turning 
Jerseyman  f  What  do  you  think  about  our  school  here ? 
and  our  periodical?  and  our  African  school?  and  a 
good  many  other  good  things  ?  I  cannot  but  think 
that  your  mind  has  been  pondering  over  these  sub- 
jects, and  that  God  is  turning  your  heart  to  these 
enterprises.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  attempt  to  influence 
you,  my  dear  sir,  against  the  convictions  of  a  clear 
sense  of  duty.  But  if  circumstances  continue  to  indi- 
cate a  change  in  your  plans,  I  entreat  you  to  remember 
Burlington.  There  can  be  no  mistake  as  to  its  being 
a  most  admirable  location  for  a  school.  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful, central  position,  which  commands  superior  ad- 
vantages for  such  an  undertaking. 

11 1  believe  we  might,  under  God,  be  the  means  of 
doing  great,  very  great  good  by  our  periodical,  both 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  267 

at  the  north  and  south.  Without  your  aid,  I  cannot 
think  of  undertaking  it.  There  is  no  more  advanta- 
geous place  in  the  Union  than  this  for  the  conducting 
of  a  periodical  on  the  slavery  question ;  and  if  I  could 
be  useful  in  cooperating  in  the  establishment  of  such 
a  periodical,  I  should  feel  abundantly  justified  in  re- 
maining here  many  years.  There  is,  too,  a  very  wide 
field  of  usefulness  in  the  surrounding  country.  A 
minister  who  should  come  here  as  you  would,  might 
undoubtedly  receive  a  compensation  of  four  or  five 
dollars  for  missionary  services  on  the  Sabbath,  from 
the  Missionary  Society. 

"  May  God  direct  you  in  the  right  way  ! 
"  Affectionately,  your  brother  in  Christ, 

"  CORTLANDT  VAN  RENSSELAER." 


"  Burlixgtox.  X.  J.,  March  14th,  1837. 
''My  Dear  Brother, — I  cannot  let  you  off  so 
easily.  It  seems  to  me,  somehow  or  other,  that  you 
must  come  to  Burlington,  open  a  school,  conduct  the 
periodical,  assist  in  establishing  a  good  institution  for 
the  blacks  in  this  neighborhood,  preach  in  these  deso- 
late regions,  enjoy  this  fine  climate,  drink  our  good 
water,  and  carry  on  an  intercourse  with  the  city  of 
brotherly  love.  You  may  depend  that  such  an  open- 
ing for  usefulness  does  not  often  occur  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  Thou  art  the  man  for  the  field.  Your 
last  letter,  it  is  true,  is  rather  discouraging.  I  would 
not  willingly  do  a  thing  that  would  interfere  with 
your  highest  usefulness  in  this  life.  If  a  fine  institu- 
tion, of  a  literary  and  scientific  character,  can  be  estab- 


268  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

listed  in  Hartford,  then  may  God  speed  it,  and  bless 
yon,  if  yon  engage  in  it.  Or  if  any  enterprise  comes 
up  which  bears  more  directly  upon  yonr  tastes,  habits, 
qualifications,  nsefnlness  or  interests,  than  the  aforesaid 
plan  abont  Bnrlington,  I  give  np  without  a  murmur. 

"  The  periodical  has  more  engaged  my  heart  of  late 
than  ever.  I  believe  that  the  welfare  of  the  African 
race  urgently  requires  such  an  instrumentality.  The 
unsettled  state  of  public  opinion  at  the  north  demands 
it.  The  intelligent  and  conscientious  slaveholders  at 
the  south  demand  it.  Both  sections  of  country  want 
light.  I  do  not  think  it  at  all  important  to  the  success 
of  the  work,  that  a  single  subscriber  south  of  the 
Potomac  should  be  obtained  as  a  preliminary  condi- 
tion. The  fact  is,  if  the  work  is  good  for  any  thing, 
especially  if  it  be  conducted  on  the  great  principles 
of  social  and  national  order,  it  will  find  its  way  south 
faster  than  we  can  dream  of.  And  even  if  the  south 
should  not  support  it,  there  is  abundant — I  say  abun- 
dant necessity  for  such  a  work  merely  in  reference  to 
northern  feeling.  I  conscientiously  believe  that  noth- 
ing is  more  called  for,  in  connection  with  the  African 
population,  than  this  very  thing.  Let  us,  my  brother, 
arise  in  the  Lord,  and  perform  our  part  in  behalf  of 
Ethiopia.  I  want  to  do  something  more  for  this  peo- 
ple before  I  die.  And  I  am  persuaded,  that  no  more 
important  enterprise  for  their  good  now  suggests  itself. 
I  verily  think  that  you  are  the  man  to  take  hold  as 
chief.  I  am  ready  to  stand  by  and  lend  what  services 
I  am  master  of.  Reconsider  once  more,  for  Africa's 
sake.  Your  school  would  certainly  flourish. 
"  Yours  affectionately, 

"  CORTLANDT  VAN  RENSSELAER.' 


REV.    TIIOS.    II.    GALL  AU  PET.  269 

Among  Mr.  Gallaudet's  papers,  I  find  a  plan  drawn 
out,  manifestly  the  result  of  much  reflection,  in 
a  letter  to  John  Tappan,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  for  the 
establishment  of  a  school  for  very  young  children; 
not  an  infant  school,  as  that  term  was  understood  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  but  a  great  improvement  upon 
that — to  plant  the  seeds  of  a  thorough  Christian  educa- 
tion in  the  minds  of  children  as  early  as  practicable. 
It  appears  that  in  drawing  up  this  letter,  Mr.  Gallaudet 
acted  in  behalf  of  an  association  of  gentlemen  (names 
not  mentioned)  who  coincided  with  him  in  the  belief  that 
such  a  school,  to  serve  as  a  model  for  others,  was  very 
desirable,  provided  he  would  consent  to  take  charge  of 
it,  which  it  will  be  seen  he  seemed  inclined  to  do. 

"  Hartford,  March  27th,  1828. 

"Dear  Sir, — I  intended  this  morning  to  have  replied 
to  your  letter  of  the  2 2d  March,  and  to  have  suggested 
for  your  consideration  another  plan  on  the  subject  of 
education,  when  I  received  yours  of  yesterday. 

"  The  proposals  in  your  first  letter  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  I  did  not  hesitate  to  communicate  them  to 
several  of  my  friends,  although  I  have  not  taken  any 
steps,  with  reference  to  them  and  my  connection  with 
the  Asylum,  in  the  way  of  business. 

"  It  will  produce  me  some  little  embarrassment,  but  I 
consider  it  as  one  of  those  dispensations  of  Providence, 
which  ought  to  teach  us  submission  to  his  will,  and  de- 
pendence on  his  guidance.  Be  assured  I  shall  not,  on 
this  account,  feel  at  all  unpleasantly  towards  yourself 

"  I  have  alluded  to  another  plan ;  permit  me  to  sug- 
gest it  for  your  consideration,  and  those  of  your  friends 
who  take  an  interest  in  the  cause  of  education.     I  will 


270  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF 

express  my  views  freely,  stating  also  that  I  am  willing 
to  receive  proposals  with  regard  to  the  plan  I  am  about 
to  develop,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  mnst  be  under- 
stood that  the  question  of  duty  with  regard  to  my  leav- 
ing my  present  situation  is  not  not  yet  fully  settled  in 
my  own  min.^ . 

"  I  have  thought,  for  a  long  time,  that  the  attention 
of  the  public  is  by  no  means  sufficiently  directed  to  the 
education  of  children  and  youth  in  its  earliest  stages,  I 
mean  between  the  ages  of  three  and  eight.  You  know 
what  is  doing  in  England  on  this  subject,  at  the  origi- 
nal instigation  of  the  distinguished  Mr.  Brougham.  I 
am  told  that  there  are  now  two  hundred  infant  schools 
in  England,  and  that  a  great  national  society  is  about 
to  be  formed  with  reference  to  this  object. 

"Amid  all  the  other  projects  of  doing  good,  have 
Christians  felt  the  importance  of  directing  greater 
efforts  to  the  religious  as  well  as  intellectual  instruction 
of  quite  young  children,  especially  the  children  of  the 
church,  upon  an  intelligible,  rational,  and  philosophi- 
cal plan  ?  Will  not  most  Christian  parents  admit,  that, 
to  say  the  least,  the  education  of  their  children  till  the 
age  of  six  or  seven  years  is  conducted  in  a  very  loose  and 
desultory  way  ?  How  few,  very  few,  suitable  books, 
especially  on  religious  subjects,  are  to  be  found  for  chil- 
dren of  that  age,  let  our  Sabbath-school  teachers  testify. 
In  developing  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers  of 
children,  in  teaching  them  language,  and  in  conveying 
knowledge,  especially  religious  truth,  to  their  minds,  is 
it  not  of  importance  to  begin  right  ? 

"May  not  great  improvements  in  the  earliest  stages 
of  education  be  reasonably  anticipated?  Ought  not 
great  efforts  to  be  made  to  have  them  introduced  ? 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  271 

"  I  have  been  teaching  infantile  minds  for  ten  years, 
daily  and  laboriously.  I  think  I  see  clearly  how  I 
could  bring  the  results  of  my  experience  to  bear  upon 
the  minds  of  children  who  can  hear  and  speak,  so  as 
to  produce  most  important  effects  in  the  early  stages  of 
education,  and  also  upon  the  preparation  of  suitable 
books,  especially  of  a  religious  kind,  which  would 
greatly,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  promote  the  early 
growth  of  piety  in  the  human  heart.  What  an  aid 
would  such  books  afford  both  to  parents  and  teachers ! 

"  1.  Suppose,  in  a  city  like  Boston,  some  ten  or  twelve 
families  should  unite  and  establish  a  private  school  for 
the  instruction  of  their  children  under  six  or  seven 
years  of  age,  and  I  should  take  charge  of  it  for  one 
year,  devoting  to  it  about  five  hours  a  day,  and  having 
sufficient  vacation  for  relaxation. 

"  In  such  a  school  and  in  such  a  time  I  could  apply 
the  principles  which  we  have  found  so  successful  in 
teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  devise,  arrange,  and 
mature,  a  new,  and  permit  me  to  say,  more  rational 
mode  of  instruction  than  any  now  in  operation.  I 
speak  of  a  private  school,  because  I  had  rather  begin  in 
a  noiseless  way,  and  have  the  best  opportunity  of  being 
able  to  present  to  the  public,  with  a  good  degree  of  con- 
fidence, a  system  of  instruction  for  such  young  minds- 

"2.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  or  sooner  if  all  things 
were  ready,  I  would  show  the  results  of  my  efforts,  and 
I  am  sanguine  enough  to  believe  that  they  would  both 
interest  and  surprise  all  intelligent  and  benevolent 
minds.  I  would  then  propose  to  enlarge  the  school  to 
any  practicable  extent,  and  make  it  a  permanent  model 
school  for  the  education  of  young  children,  on  philoso- 
phical and  evangelical  principles. 


272  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"3.  In  such,  a  school,  made  if  thought  best  a  public 
one,  or  continued  as  a  private  one  for  the  education  of 
the  children  of  the  higher  classes  of  society,  persons 
might  easily  be  qualified  to  diffuse  the  system  pursued, 
to  any  extent,  throughout  our  country,  both  among  the 
children  of  the  poor,  in  public  establishments,  and 
among  those  of  the  more  affluent  in  private  ones. 
"What  good  might  thus  be  done,  when  j~ou  consider  the 
whole  youthful  population  of  the  country  ! 

"4.  At  first,  I  should  expect  to  devote  myself  per- 
sonally to  the  actual  details  of  teaching,  having  an 
assistant,  however,  who,  by  becoming  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  my  mode  of  instruction,  would  be  quali- 
fied to  aid  in  the  contemplated  enlargement  of  the 
school. 

"5.  Eventually,  by  training  up  suitable  assistants,  I 
should  expect  to  be  released  from  many  of  the  details 
of  teaching,  having  still  the  constant  and  daily  over- 
sight of  the  school,  but  thus  finding  leisure  to  prepare 
books  for  such  little  children,  which,  being  the  results 
of  actual  experience,  and  being  tested  among  my  own 
pupils,  would  possess  many  and  great  advantages  for 
being  used  in  other  similar  schools,  in  Sabbath  schools, 
and  in  families. 

"  6.  Such  a  school  should  eventually  be  located  in  a 
healthful  and  pleasant  part  of  the  city,  having  ample 
play  grounds  for  the  children,  and  my  own  residence,  if 
possible,  forming  a  part  of  the  general  establishment. 

"7.  Do  not  think  me  chimerical;  but  I  must  go  still 
further — the  field  of  enterprise  opens  wide  before  me. 
Connected  with  the  permanent  model  school,  and  in 
the  same  or  a  contiguous  building,  should  be  'An 
Athenaeum  of  Juvenile  Literature.'     The  funds,  small 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  273 

in  amount,  necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect  should  be 
raised  by  shares  in  stock,  entitling  each  stockholder  to 
its  advantages.  Here  I  would  have  collected  all  the 
books  published  in  our  own  country,  in  England,  and 
in  France,  or,  at  any  rate,  most  of  them,  for  the  use  of 
children  in  the  early  stages  of  education,  together  with 
all  the  practical  treatises  on  this  subject.  Copies  of  all 
books  published  in  our  own  country  would,  I  have  no 
doubt,  be  cheerfully  furnished  gratis.  I  would  also 
have  all  the  ingenious  apparatus  and  contrivances  em- 
ployed in  the  instruction  of  children  here  collected. 
Such  an  Athenaeum  would  exhibit  all  that  is  doing  in 
this  interesting  department  of  education ;  it  would  be  a 
source  of  great  gratification  and  improvement  to  parents, 
to  teachers,  and  to  all  interested  in  the  subject ;  it  would 
furnish  many  valuable  books  for  republication ;  and  it 
would  afford  me  a  great  deal  of  valuable  information 
with  regard  to  still  further  improvements  in  the  model 
school,  and  in  the  preparation  of  school  books. 

11  8.  Have  patience  still.  I  would  have  connected 
with  the  establishment  a  'Child's  Museum,'  containing 
objects  calculated  not  only  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of 
little  folks,  but  also  furnishing  the  means  of  conversing 
with  them  on  subjects  which,  without  such  objects,  it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  explain  intelligibly  to  them. 
Such  a  museum  would  be  of  immense  advantage  to  the 
model  school.  It  would  receive  ample  donations  from 
the  benevolent ;  and  by  admitting  the  public  at  suita- 
ble stated  times,  at  a  moderate  charge,  would  support 
itself.  I  should  be  willing  to  undertake  it  at  my  own 
risk. 

"9.  Once  more,  and  I  have  done.  Should  I  go  to 
Boston  or  elsewhere,  in  the  providence  of  God,  for  such 
12* 


274  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

objects,  i  would  propose  to  the  church  to  which.  I 
should  attach  myself,  to  take  the  children  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  and  of  such  of  the  society  as  would 
wish  to  unite  with  them  on  the  Sabbath,  and  have  a 
little  (or  perhaps  it  would  be  a  large)  congregation  of 
youth  under  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  with  whom  I 
would  pray,  and  to  whom  I  would  preach,  in  a  manner 
suited  to  their  capacity.  What  an  interest  would  thus 
be  excited  in  their  minds,  instead  of  that  tediousness 
which  they  feel  in  attending,  as  they  now  do,  on  services 
which  they  cannot  understand!  Would  not  such  a 
plan,  if  successfully  carried  into  effect,  be  worthy  of 
being  adopted  extensively  ? 

"  You  see  how  I  would  thus  become  the  children's 
teacher,  and  friend,  and  spiritual  guide.  Work  enough 
for  a  life,  if  Providence  should  afford  strength.  In  all 
that  I  have  said  I  beg  to  be  considered  as  giving  no 
pledge.  Such  plans  I  have  revolved  in  my  own  mind, 
and  now  suggest  them  to  yours.  I  wish  the  subject  to 
be  confined  to  the  small  circle  of  a  few  of  your  in- 
telligent and  pious  friends ;  permit  me  to  include  par- 
ticularly the  Eev.  Dr.  Beecher  and  Kev.  Edward 
Beecher,  with  the  latter  of  whom  I  have  often  con- 
versed on  this  and  kindred  topics. 

"  May  I  beg  the  favor  of  hearing  from  you  very 
soon  on  the  subject.  I  have  other  proposals  which  de- 
mand my  serious  and  speedy  attention.  I  ask,  too,  a 
remembrance  in  your  prayers,  that  God  would  guide 
me  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  render  my  poor  services, 
either  here  or  elsewhere,  promotive  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Yours  with  sincere  esteem, 
"  Mr.  John  Tappan."  "  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  275 

A  copy  of  this  letter  appears  to  have  been  sent  to 
Dr.  Alexander,  of  Princeton,  asking  his  opinion  of  the 
plan,  and  he  highly  approved  of  it. 

Though  the  plan  was  never  carried  ont  in  that  shape, 
and  on  the  broad  basis  contemplated,  it  was  the  off- 
spring of  liberal  and  enlightened  minds,  and  who  can 
tell  bnt  that  the  outlines  will  hereafter  be  adopted  in 
a  more  elementary  system  of  Christian  education  than 
has  yet  been  pursued? 

A  letter  from  a  committee  in  Boston  on  the  same 
subject  is  here  inserted,  with  Mr.  Gallaudet's  answer  : 

"  Boston,  Oct.  10th,  1838. 

"Dear  Sir, — The  Primary  School  Board  of  this  city, 
having  taken  the  incipient  measures  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  model  school,  and  appointed  the  subscribers 
a  committee,  to  "  have  the  particular  oversight  and 
control  of  the  same,"  we  have  thought  it  to  be  our 
duty,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  assigned  us,  to 
address  ourselves  to  the  friends  of  education  and  those 
experienced  in  the  business  of  instruction,  that  we  may 
obtain  from  them  such  hints,  suggestions,  facts  or 
practical  remarks  as  they  may  have  to  offer,  that  will 
aid  us  in  executing  the  plan  proposed  for  the  improve- 
ment of  our  primary  schools. 

"  The  pnpils  of  our  schools  are  from  four  to  seven 
years  of  age,  and  our  desire  is  to  obtain  from  those 
who  have  made  the  subject  of  early  instruction,  as  it 
is  conducted  in  our  own  or  other  countries,  a  matter 
of  particular  research  and  thought,  their  opinion  as  to 
the  number  of,  and  most  appropriate  studies  for,  child- 
ren of  this  age ;  the  best  methods  of  conveying  this 
instruction  to  their  minds,  the  physical  exercises  with 


276  LIFE   AND  LABORS   OF 

which  thej  may  and  ought  to  be  accompanied,  and  the 
modes  of  discipline  which  are  most  approved,  or  have 
been  most  successfully  practiced. 

"  We  solicit  from  you,  sir,  in  particular,  an  expression 
of  views  on  these  points,  believing  that  your  experi- 
ence and  knowledge  will  lead  to  suggestions  that  will 
greatly  aid  us  in  the  formation  of  a  school  worthy  to 
be  considered  a  model,  not  only  for  our  own,  but  for 
all  others  of  a  similar  character,  wherever  thep  may  be 
established. 

"  We  append  a  few  queries  which  may  assist  in  guid- 
ing you  more  specifically  to  the  points  at  which  we 
aim.     An  answer  in  general,  or  in  particular  to  one  or 
more  of  these  questions  will  be  gratefully  received  ; 
"  And  we  remain,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  friends  and  obedient  servants, 

"  LEWIS-  G.  PRAY, 
R.  W.  BAYLET, 
J.  F.  BUMSTEAD, 
GEORGE  W.  OTIS,  Jun., 
ENOCH  HOBART. 

"1.  How  many,  and  what,  in  your  opinion,  are  the 
studies  which  should  be  required  of  children  be- 
tween four  and  seven  years  of  age  ? 

"2.  What  are  the  best  modes  of  discipline  for  such  a 
class  of  children  ? 

"  3.  What  moral  and  religious  exercises  and  studies 
should  be  introduced,  and  how  conducted  ? 

"4.  What  is  the  best  method  of  teaching  the  sounds 
of  vowels  and  consonants?  the  alphabet?  read- 
ing ?  spelling  ?  arithmetic  ?  and  so  of  any  other 
study  which  may  be  recommended  ? 

"  5.  What  methods  can  be  adopted  for  making  chil- 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  277 

dren  understand  the  lessons  which  they  are  re- 
quired to  learn  ? 

11  6.  What  physical  exercises  can  be  introduced,  how 
conducted,  and  what  portion  of  time  should  they 
occupy  ? 

11  7.  What  apparatus  is  required  in  such  a  school  ? 

"  8.  What  books  are  the  best,  in  your  opinion,  for  the 
studies  recommended  ?  " 

Dr.  Gallaudet  to  Lewis  G.  Pray  and  others.  Committee. 

"  Hartford,  Oct.  13, 1838. 

"  Gentlemen, — We  have  much  yet  to  learn  in  the 
department  of  juvenile  education.  Had  I  the  care  of 
such  a  school,  I  should  feel  this  deeply.  I  would 
adopt  pertinaciously  no  particular  system,  but  com- 
mence with  a  few  simple  principles  of  procedure,  and 
preserve  as  much  as  possible  the  features  of  the 
family  state  in  the  school ;  feel  my  way  along,  mould- 
ing things  into  shape  gradually,  altering,  amending, 
and  abolishing,  when  necessary,  and  slowly  maturing 
what  I  might  hope,  at  the  expiration  of  some  four  or 
five  years,  to  call  a  model  school.  It  seems  to  me  that 
everything  depends  on  him  whom  you  get  as  the" 
principal  of  such  an  institution.  He  should  be  a  man 
of  piety,  simplicity,  childlike  and  Christianlike ;  a  man 
of  prayer,  of  practical,' everyday,  self-denying  benevo- 
lence, who  loves  to  study  his  Bible,  imbibe  its  spirit, 
and  to  make  it  his  constant  counselor  and  guide.  He 
should  have  genuine  originality  of  mind,  and  the 
power  of  investigation;  be  wedded  to  no  system, 
neither  his  own  or  to  one  of  others ;  apt  to  learn 
as  well  as  to  teach ;  ready  to  hear  suggestions,  and  to 


278  LIFE  AND   LABOES   OF 

profit  by  them ;  speculative,  yet  practical ;  enthusiastic, 
yet  cautious ;  and,  above  all,  be  able  to  enter  into  the 
very  souls  of  children,  to  think  as  they  think,  and  to 
feel  as  they  feel,  loving  them  as  if  he  were  their  father, 
and  winning  them  by  his  looks,  voice,  manners  and 
conversation  to  love  him  and  to  confide  in  him.  He 
should  have  had  experience  in  teaching,  the  more  the 
better,  and  have  acquired  a  tact  of  managing  young 
pupils,  but  without  anything  pedagogicaily  stiff,  or 
formally  dogmatic,  or  unyielding. 

"Find  such  a  man,  or  such  a  woman,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  you  will  have  gone  through  much  more  than 
half  of  your  labor.  Give  such  an  individual  the  results 
of  your  inquiries,  and  your  general  directions  as  to 
the  plan  (as  simple  as  possible,  and  susceptible  of  con- 
tinual modification,  as  the  light  of  experience  shall  be 
cast  upon  it,)  that  is  to  be  pursued.  Treat  him  with 
great  confidence  ;  let  him  feel  the  laudable  ambition  of 
himself  devising  and  maturing,  under  your  auspices 
and  supervision,  but  without  dictating  the  precise 
course  which  he  is  to  follow,  what  may  at  length  truly 
deserve  the  high  appellation  of  a  model  primary  school, 
worthy  of  universal  praise  and  imitation.  Excuse 
the  freedom  with  which  I  give  you  these  terse  hints. 

"While  I  think  on  the  one  hand  that  the  actual 
amount  of  book  studying  to  be  pursued  in  the  school 
which  you  propose  should  be  comparatively  small,  that 
there  should  be  no  pushing  forward  the  young  and  tender 
minds  in  it,  in  a  way  to  make  them  precocious,  or  the 
school  a  wonder  for  the  early  attainments  it  can  exhibit, 
and  everything  should  be  done  to  cultivate  to  the 
highest  point  of  perfection  bodily  health,  cheerfulness, 
elastic  buoyancy  of  happy  feeling,  pious  and  benevolent 


REV.    THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  279 

affections,  taste,  good  habits  and  manners  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  to  impart  the  knowledge  suited  to  their  age 
and  capacity ;  on  the  other  hand,  while  I  contemplate 
what  the  education  (using  the  word  in  its  comprehen- 
sive import)  of  a  child  is  from  the  age  of  four  to  that 
of  seven,  and  the  powerful  influence  for  good  which 
a  model  school  for  such  children,  judiciously  con- 
ducted, might  exert  throughout  our  whole  country, 
I  feel  anxious  that  the  head  of  it  should  be  worthy  of 
the  elevated  station  he  would  be  called  to  fill. 

"  But  can  all  our  primary  schools  hope  to  have  such 
an  individual  to  conduct  them  ?  That  cannot  be  ex- 
pected ;  but  you  are  to  mature  a  system ;  you  are  to 
hold  up  a  model ;  you  hope  to  set  a  great  moral  ma- 
chinery in  motion,  on  a  somewhat  new  and  improved 
principle.  You  need  no  common  mind  to  be  your 
successful  agent  in  doing  this. 

"  Find  this  mind,  and  look  to  God  for  his  guidance 
and  blessing,  and  the  rest  of  your  work  will  be  easy. 
"  Yours,  with  great  respect, 

"  THOMAS  H.  GALLAUDET." 


280  LIFE  AXD   LABORS   OF 


CHAPTER    II. 

Mr.  Gallaudet's  long  experience  in  teaching  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  studying  how  to  reach  and  de- 
velop their  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  deepened 
his  persuasion  from  year  to  year,  that  this  experience 
admitted  of  a  much  wider  application  in  the  science  of 
education,  and  increased  his  desire  to  be  released  as 
soon  as  he  might,  so  as  to  devote  a  part  of  his  time, 
at  least,  to  the  writing  of  elementary  books  for  young 
children,  and  to  furnish  entertaining  religious  reading 
for  them  as  their  years  increased. 

We  have  seen  how,  as  soon  as  he  left  the  asylum, 
and  even  before,  he  was  pressed  on  every  side  by  ap- 
plications which  would  have  left  him  no  time  for 
writing  books  of  any  sort ;  and  in  view  of  what  he  ac- 
tually accomplished  by  his  multiform  educational  serv- 
ices, we  cannot  but  wonder  how  he  contrived  to 
write  so  many  as  he  did.  The  following  is  a  list  of 
those  which  have  been  widely  circulated,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  wise 
and  good,  enrol  the  name  of  Gallaudet  among  the 
most  gifted  and  attractive  writers  in  the  department 
which  he  occupied. 

They  are,  the  Every-Day  Christian,  the  Child's 
Book  on  the  Soul,  the  Child's  Book  on  Repentance, 
the  Child's  Book  of  Bible  Stories,  Youth's  Book  on 


REV.   TITOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  281 

Natural  Theology ;  nine  volumes  of  Scripture  Biog- 
raphy, commencing  with  Adam  and  Joseph,  and  leav- 
ing off  with  Jonah ;  the  Child's  Picture  Defining  and 
Beading  Book,  and  Mother's  Primer. 

Besides  these,  the  schools  are  indebted  to  him  and 
the  Kev.  Horace  Hooker,  for  the  Practical  Spelling 
Book,  with  reading  lessons,  and  the  School  and  Family 
Dictionary,  on  a  new  plan,  which  must  have  cost  them 
a  great  deal  of  time  and  labor.  And,  then,  added  to  all 
these,  his  contributions  to  annuals,  magazines,  and  other 
journals  of  the  day,  would  make  a  very  large  volume. 
The  bare  titles,  which  I  have  no  room  for,  would  oc- 
cupy a  large  space. 

From  the  mass  of  letters  commendatory  of  his  books, 
I  select  the  folowing : 

Mr.  Abbott  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  New  York,  June  7th,  1836. 

"Bev.  and  Dear  Sie, — I  have  the  pleasure  to 
communicate  to  you  a  vote  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  'American  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Useful  Knowledge,'  at  their  meeting  last  night. 

"  The  Committee  of  Publication,  through  the  Chair- 
man, reported  to  the  Executive  Committee,  that  'no 
time  was  to  be  lost,  in  carrying  into  effect,'  some  of 
the  plans  proposed  by  the  Society,  as  the  '  mischief 
which  is  daily  done,'  by  presses  '  of  an  infidel  and  im- 
moral tendency,  is  incalculable.'  They  also  recom- 
mend, as  '  an  indispensable  measure,  the  immediate 
employment  of  additional  literary  aid,  to  carry  for- 
ward the  various  departments  of  the  Society's  contem- 
plated labors.' 


282  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

"Whereupon,  it  was  'Resolved,  That  the  Executive 

Committee  proceed  to  the  election  of  two  individuals 
for  this  purpose. 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  salary  of  $2000,  per  annum, 
be  offered  to  each  of  these  individuals,  with  assurances 
of  augmentation  as  the  resources  of  the  Society  shall 
justify.' 

"The  Committee  went  into  election,  by  ballot, 
which  resulted  in  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  Eev. 
Jacob  Abbott  and  the  Eev.  T.  H.  Grallaudet. 

"  The  Secretary  was  instructed,  in  communicating 
these  resolutions  to  the  gentlemen  elect,  to  assure  them 
of  the  liberal  views  entertained  by  the  Committee,  in 
regard  to  the  compensation  which  the  Executive 
Officers  of  the  Society  should  ultimately  receive ;  that 
the  Committee  appreciate  the  labors  of  an  editor  or 
author,  as  they  do  those  of  other  professions,  and  that, 
if  the  publications  of  the  Society  shall  be  so  conducted 
as  to  be  in  any  wise  productive,  the  editor  or  author, 
by  whose  toil  they  are  sustained,  shall  receive  the 
proportionate  reward  which  justice  and  an  enlightened 
policy  will  assign  him. 

"  The  next  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  will 
be  held  on  Friday  evening,  January  20th.  They 
earnestly  invite  the  attendance  of  the  gentlemen 
elected  on  that  occasion,  for  the  sake  of  conference  on 
the  various  topics  to  be  considered,  in  connection  with 
this  appointment. 

"  The  Committee  believe  both  gentlemen  to  be  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  with  the  general  design  of  the  In- 
stitution; but  that  a  personal  interview  is  exceedingly 
desirable,  in  relation  to  its  present  state,  prospects,  and 
plans;  the  opening  field  of  usefulness  before  it,  of 


REV.   TIIOS.   n.   GALLAUDET.  283 

boundless  extent ;  the  division  of  labor  in  the  various 
departments,  which  may  be  mutually  agreeable,  and  for 
the  public  good.  They  believe  that  the  building  up  of 
this  national  institution,  so  imperiously  demanded,  by 
the  exigencies  of  our  country,  and  of  the  times  in 
which  we  live,  is  an  object  in  every  respect  worthy 
the  attention  of  those  wrhom  they  invite  to  the  work. 

"  In  the  strong  hope  of  a  personal  interview  soon; 
further  particulars  will,  perhaps,  be  unnecessary  now. 
Any  inquiries,  however,  on  the  subject,  will  be  im- 
mediately answered.  Please  inform  us,  as  soon  as  con- 
venient, whether  we  may  expect  to  see  you. 

"I  am,  dear  sir,  with  assurances  of  respect  and 
affection,  "  Very  truly  yours, 

«  GOKHAM  D.  ABBOTT, 

"  Sec.  Soc.  D.  U.  K." 


From  Henry  Dwight,  Esq.  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Geneva,  July  6th,  1833. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  read  with  great  pleasure 
and  approbation,  your  first  and  second  part  of  the 
Child's  Book  on  the  Soul,  and  your  Youth's  Natural 
Theology.  Your  long  experience  and  accurate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  mind,  has  given  you  a  power  of 
simplifying  abstract  truth,  and  of  making  it  interesting 
to  children  and  youth,  which  has  been  rarely,  if  ever, 
surpassed. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  that  your  qualifications  for  exten- 
sive usefulness  in  this  department,  point  out  to  you, 
clearly,  the  duty  of  pursuing  the  course  which  you 
have  so  successfully  commenced. 

"  Permit  me  to  mention  a  subject,  which  it  seems  to 


284  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

me  you  can  better  present  and  illustrate  than  any  per- 
son in  the  scope  of  my  knowledge. 

"  It  is  something  like  a  Butler's  Analogy  for  children. 
It  is  to  exhibit  this  truth,  that  the  arrangements  of 
Providence  in  this  world  are  such,  that  each  vice  pro- 
duces its  natural  punishment,  and  that  the  result  is  the 
same  in  kind  with  the  cause,  as  much  as  the  crop  is  like 
the  seed.  This  seems  a  truth  of  a  general  nature.  Is  a 
man  irritable,  overbearing,  quarrelsome?  He  will  find 
that  these  qualities  will  produce  from  many  around  him 
anger  and  reaction,  which  will  make  his  life  wretched. 
In  proportion  to  the  degree  of  this  vicious  disposition, 
will  be  the  punishment  ordinarily  renewed  in  kind; 
until,  if  he  uses  the  sword,  he  will  perish  by  the 
sword. 

"  So,  if  the  disposition  is  for  impurity  or  lewdness, 
he  chooses  filth.  The  result  is  a  mind  most  degraded 
and  unclean ;  a  body  most  defiled  and  loathsome. 

"  So  may  be  traced  as  the  fruit,  in  kind,  of  our 
own  doing,  the  result  of  every  vice.  Disobedience  to 
parents,  resulting  in  the  disobedience  of  children. 
Slander  in  a  blasted  reputation.  Fraud,  in  cheating 
oneself  of  almost  everything  valuable.  Pride  in  pro- 
ducing constant  mortification. 

"So,  also,  the  tendency  of  all  the  virtues  to  produce 
reward  in  kind,  as  love,  the  good  will  of  all,  tender- 
ness toward  others,  delicacy  to  yourself,  &c. 

"Perhaps  you  would  carry  the  results,  which  you 
can  trace  with  great  beauty,  to  the  last  sigh  of  the 
present  life,  or  beyond  the  grave,  and  show,  that  this 
principle  reaches  eternity,  and  must,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  constitute  much  of  its  happiness  and  misery. 
Thus  showing  how   it   must  necessarily  be,  that  in 


REV.    TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  285 

every  state  and  stage  of  the  existence  of  a  spirit,  con- 
stituted as  is  the  human  soul,  that  the  seed  which  he 
morally  sows,  he  shall  certainly  reap.  I  have  merely 
touched  the  subject  which  you  can  expound.  I  have 
written  to  you,  because  I  think  the  book  would  be 
interesting  aud  useful,  from  your  hands,  should  the 
subject  strike  your  mind  pleasantly. 

"  It  would  gratify  me  much  to  hear  from  you  ;  but 
still  more  to  have  your  pen  thus  employed,  on  this 
or  some  other  topic,  which  you  have  the  capacity  of 
rendering  so  useful  to  a  numerous  and  important  por- 
tion of  the  community. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  friend, 

"H.  D  WIGHT." 


Rev.  J.  Van  Court  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

u  Natchez,  Feb.  15th,  1837. 
"  My  very  Dear  Sir, — I  have  taken  the  liberty 
of  addressing  you  a  line  in  reference  to  a  subject  on 
which  I  know  }'ou  feel  a  deep  interest — the  religious 
instruction  of  the  colored  population  of  the  south. 
You  are  aware  that  the  instruction  of  the  slaves  must 
be  confined  very  much  to  oral  teaching.  If  we  had  a 
catechism  adapted  to  the  purpose,  it  might  be  exten- 
sively circulated,  and  owners  of  plantations  might  be 
induced  to  make  use  of  it  in  instructing  their  servants, 
particularly  the  smaller  ones,  those  between  the  ages 
of  four  and  fourteen.  Jones'  Catechism  has  been 
found  to  be  too  large  for  general  use.  It  might  an- 
swer for  the  third  in  a  series,  but  even  then  it  would 
be  difficult  to  get  it  into  general  use.  "Without  going 
into  the  reasons,  which  will  be  obvious  to  yourself,  I 


286  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

would  simply  state  what  we  want  for  the  south,  and 
add  my  humble  but  urgent  request,  that  you  will 
consent  to  make  trial  of  your  abilities  to  prepare  it 
for  us. 

"What  we  want  is  a  catechism  not  exceeding  a 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  questions  at  most, 
prepared  in  the  simplest  form,  and  embracing  all  the 
important  doctrines  and  precepts  taught  in  the  Bible. 
I  do  not  mean  that  the  catechism  is  to  notice  every 
doctrinal  precept  of  importance  which  the  Bible 
teaches,  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  this  in  the 
limits  allowed,  but  I  wish  you  to  select  those  which 
take  the  strongest  hold  of  the  mind  at  that  early  age, 
when  the  moral  faculties  are  more  matured  than  the 
mental.  It  would  be  well  to  bear  in  mind,  in  prepar- 
ing it,  that  it  is  only  the  first  of  a  series,  and  is  to  be 
succeeded  by  another  fuller  and  more  minute.  This 
will  enable  you,  without  reluctance,  to  leave  out  many 
things  j ou  might  wish  to  put  in.  If  you  feel  disposed 
to  inquire  who  is  to  prepare  the  second  catechism,  the 
only  answer  I  am  able  to  make  is,  that  if  we  like 
Mr.  Gallaudet's  first  effort,  we  shall  be  apt  to  trouble 
him  again.  Eemember  me  very  kindly,  if  you  please, 
to  Mrs.  Gallaudet,  and  to  the  hospitable  family  on 
the  hill.  "  Yery  truly,  yours,  &c." 


Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  New  York,  Dec.  2d,  1840. 
"  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet  : 

"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  duly  received,  your  favor,  with 
the  spelling-book  prepared  by  yourself  and  Mr.  Hook- 


EEV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  287 

er,  and  I  feel  persuaded  that  all  who  examine  your 
plan  of  instruction  in  the  difficulties  and  anomalies 
of  our  language,  will  concur  in  the  conviction  that  you 
have  most  happily  accomplished  your  purpose.  The 
anomalies  in  orthography  are  very  judiciously  ar- 
ranged to  fix  the  attention  and  help  the  memory  of 
the  learner,  and  the  whole  work  forms  a  practicable 
spelling-book,  which  not  only  the  schools,  but  any 
seminary  in  our  country  may  profitably  study. 
11  With  great  regard,  yours  truly, 

"  THEO.  FREL1XGHUYSEN." 


"  Morrison  Hill,  China,  24th  March,  1845. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — Your  favor  of  February  16th, 
1844,  did  not  reach  me  till  nearly  a  year  after  its  date. 
I  received  it,  with  a  copy  of  your  '  Spelling-book '  and 
1  Mother's  Primer,'  on  the  7th  of  January,  1845.  The 
'  School  and  Family  Dictionary '  was  also  in  the  parcel. 
The  two  last  mentioned  works  I  have  had  and  made 
use  of  in  our  school  for  about  two  years.  My  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  David  E.  Bartlett,  had  the  kindness  to  send 
me  a  number  of  copies  of  each,  I  think  in  1843.  The 
1  Spelling-book '  I  had  also  seen,  though  having  but 
one  copy  I  could  not  introduce  it  into  the  school.  It 
is  out  of  my  power,  therefore,  to  comply  with  your 
request,  and  give  you  my  opinion  of  its  adaptation  to 
the  wants  of  such  a  school.  I  can,  however,  speak  of 
the  other  two — the  primer  and  the  dictionary.  TTe 
have  four  classes,  in  a  school  of  thirty -five  boys,  and 
one  of  them  has  made  a  fair  trial  of  the  primer.  They 
commenced  their  study  of  the  English  language  with 


288  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

it,  and  were  kept  to  it  until  they  were  able  to  read  it 
fluently.  The  consequence  is,  that  they  have  acquired 
the  art  of  reading  more  readily  and  accurately  than 
those  who  were,  for  the  want  of  such  a  book,  put  upon 
the  old  course  of  learning  to  read.  The  remarks  you 
have  made  in  the  preface  to  this  little  book,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  absurdity  of  teaching  children  to  read  by 
letters,  are  doubly  true  when  considered  in  relation  to 
a  school  like  this. 

"  The  older  pupils  in  the  school  each  have  a  copy 
of  the  dictionary,  and  think  much  of  it.  I  dare  say 
it  needs  no  commendation  among  those  who  have  tried 
it.  I  will  only  say  that,  so  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  precisely 
what  we  require  in  our  school.  I  could  wish  that  you 
would  extend  it  to  about  twice  its  present  size,  for  the 
sake  of  those  who  are,  like  myself,  laboring  to  teach 
English'  to  'foreigners.  The  enlargement  would  not 
make  it  less,  but  more  useful  in  the  United  States. 
My  boys  are  delighted  when  they  can  find  their  hard 
words  explained  in  it.  But  their  knowledge  of  Eng- 
lish is  so  limited,  that  they  have  to  suffer  frequent 
disappointments. 

"  I  am  greatly  encouraged  in  the  work  of  teaching, 
by  the  character  and  attainments  of  our  pupils,  as  well 
as  by  the  interest  that  the  enterprise  awakens  among 
some  of  the  foreigners  in  China.  Most  of  them  are 
too  much  engrossed  in  business  to  think  of  any  thing 
else  long  or  much.  There  are  some  noble  exceptions. 
God  has  blessed  us  hitherto  beyond  all  that  I- expected 
when  we  came  to  this  country.  Pray  for  these  youth, 
my  dear  sir,  that  they  may  be  as  lights  in  the  midst 
of  the  thick  darkness  around  them — lights  shining  by 
the  reflected  rays  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness.     My 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  289 

dear  wife  bids  me  say  that  she  has  known  you  from 
her  childhood,  and  that  she  desires  her  kindest  remem- 
brances to  Mrs.  Gallaudet  and  yourself.  If  you  find 
time  to  drop  me  a  line  now  and  then,  I  shall  feel 
happy  in  being  thus  remembered. 
"  And  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  to  be, 
"  Yours  very  truly, 

«  Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet.  "  S.  R.  BROWN. 

*  P.  S.  I  wanted,  in  the  course  of  my  letter,  to  say 
how  much  I  owe,  for  the  little  aptness  to  teach  that  I 
possess,  to  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in 
former  years.  It  has  been  of  use  to  me  in  many  ways, 
and  I  wish  I  could  have  an  assistant  and  associate  who 
has  had  experience  in  the  same  school.  Have  you  not 
a  son  to  spare  by  and  by  ?  " 


Dr.  A.  A.  Gould  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

';  Boston,  May  7th,  1836. 
"  Respected  Sir, — It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Board 
of  Primary  Schools  in  this  city,  to  introduce  the  study 
of  the  principles  of  ethics  into  those  schools.  We  are 
therefore  in  need  of  some  manual  to  guide  in  the  in- 
struction. The  scholars,  as  you  are  perhaps  aware, 
are  between  the  ages  of  four  and  seven  years,  and  of 
course  their  instruction  in  morals  will  be  of  the  most 
elementary  character.  We  are  not  yet  fully  deter- 
mined upon  a  plan ;  but  that  which  seems  most  de- 
sirable is,  that  a  book  of  perhaps  one  hundred  and 
twenty  16mo  pages  should  be  written  or  compiled, 
consisting  of  narratives  involving  some  principle  of 
13 


290  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

ethics,  with  questions  appended  to  each  exercise,  so 
that  the  book  shall  answer  for  a  class  reading  book,  as 
well  as  for  recitations. 

"  Eev.  Jacob  Abbot  commenced  a  book  for  us  on 
this  plan ;  but  his  health  failing,  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  it.  He,  however,  offers  to  put  his  papers 
into  the  hands  of  any  person  who  may  undertake  such 
a  work.  And  now,  sir,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Wayland,  I  am  desired,  by  the  Board,  to  request 
you  to  undertake  this  work  for  us.  We  believe  it  to 
be  a  difficult,  a  very  difficult  thing,  to  prepare  a  manual 
on  this  subject,  from  which  pupils  shall  learn,  and 
teachers  of  various  turns  of  mind  shall  be  able  to  teach 
successfully.  But  we  have  every  confidence  that  you 
would  be  able  to  do  all  we  have  any  right  to  expect 
from  any  one. 

"  Please  inform  us  soon  if  there  is  any  prospect  that 
you  may  be  able  to  attempt  the  work.  You  will  get 
a  general  idea  of  what  we  want  from  the  above.  If 
you  desire  further  particulars  as  to  the  plan  and  com- 
pensation, we  shall  be  happy  to  give  them.  Mr.  Ab- 
bot's intention  was  to  receive  what  he  could  get  by 
contract  with  his  own  bookseller,  we  merely  agreeing 
to  adopt  the  work. 

"  With  much  respect,  I  am,  your  ob't  serv't, 
"  AUGUSTUS  A.  GOULD,  M.  D. 

"  For  the  Board  of  Primary  Schools." 


W.  Ropes  to  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  London,  August  3rd,  1840. 
"My   Dear   Sir, — The   very   slight   acquaintance 
which  I  had  with  you  when  you  were  at  the  institu- 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  291 

tion  in  Connecticut,  will,  I  trust,  be  a  sufficient  warrant 
for  my  addressing  you  on  the  present  occasion.  The 
enclosed  letter  from  my  son  to  you,  will,  I  trust,  be 
most  gratifying  to  you.  By  it  you  will  see  that 
already  one  of  your  interesting  works  has  been  trans- 
lated into  the  language  of  an  immense  empire,  where 
its  power  of  being  useful  is  almost  boundless,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  new  editions  will  soon  be  called 
for,  and  that  it  will  find  its  way  among  that  interesting 
people,  even  to  the  walls  of  China. 

"I  send  to  Mr.  Hallock  to  day  extracts  of  several 
reviews,  published  in  Eussia,  on  your  book,  as  well  as 
interesting  anecdotes  showing  the  blessing  attending 
our  tract  cause.  I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly  and 
respectfully  yours,  «  W.  ROPES." 

"  Eev.  Sir, — Though  personally  unknown  to  you, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  address  you  a  few  lines,  believing 
that  the  news  I  have  to  communicate  will  be  to  you  as 
pleasing,  as  it  will  doubtless  appear  strange,  unless 
it  have  already  reached  you  through  some  other 
channel.  The  object  of  these  few  lines,  is  to  accom- 
pany a  copy  of  the  Eussian  translation  of  your  '  Child's 
Book  of  Natural  Theology,'  of  which  2,000  copies 
have  been  published  this  year  in  St.  Petersburgh. 
Having  spent  much  time  in  the  preparation  of  this 
work  for  the  press,  I  have  naturally  a  lively  interest 
in  its  success,  and  shall,  with  pleasure,  communicate 
to  you  a  few  particulars  respecting  it.  Oar  wish  has 
been  to  make  the  book  altogether  a  national  one,  the 
name  of  the  author,  and  the  fact  of  its  being  a  trans- 
lation, have,  therefore,  not  been  mentioned;  and  of 
the  three  periodicals  which  have  reviewed  the  work 


292  LIFE   AXD   LABORS   OF 

not  one  seems  to  have  suspected,  that  it  was  not 
original.  A  school  director  in  the  south,  of  Russia, 
(above  one  thousand  miles  off  from  us,)  has  already  or- 
dered a  small  quantity,  probably  for  his  schools,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  others  will  follow  his  ex- 
ample soon. 

"  I  might  add  much  upon  the  pleasure  it  must  give 
you,  to  be  thus  made  an  instrument  of  usefulness, 
(Grod  grant  it  may  be  great  and  lasting !)  to  a  numer- 
ous people  of  a  strange  speech,  many  thousand  miles 
removed  from  you ;  but  believing  that  your  own 
reflections  will  be  far  better  than  anything  I  can 
suggest,  I  would  simply  congratulate  you,  dear  sir, 
(for  I  feel  that  I  have  a  sort  of  personal  acquaintance 
with  you,)  that  }tou  have  such  a  subject  of  pleasing 
reflection,  and  would  hope  and  pray,  that  you  may 
long  be  spared  to  enrich  the  libraries  of  the  young, 
with  many  more  such  books  as  those  you  have  written. 

"  You  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  gratified  to  know  that 
your  'Life  of  Jonah,'  and  'Life  of  Josiah,'  are  already 
translated  into  Russ,  and  I  hope  will  this  year  be  pre- 
pared for  the  press. 

"  In  conclusion  I  will  transcribe  from  the  reviews 
I  have  spoken  of,  the  remarks  made  directly  relating 
to  the  book  itself. 

"  '  It  remains  for  us  only  to  thank  them,  (the  pub- 
lishers,) for  a  new,  exceedingly  useful,  and  interesting 
publication  for  children.  In  this  little  work,  which  is 
adorned  with  twenty-eight  wood  cuts,  a  mother  ex- 
plains to  her  son  various  phenomena  and  mysteries  of 
nature,  and  does  it  simply  and  sensibly,  always  present- 
ing the  subject  in  the  most  interesting  point  of  view. 
At  the  foundation  of  all  lies  moral  and  religious  prin- 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  293 

ciple.  "We  recommend  this  book  to  parents  and 
instructors,  as  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind.' 

'"We  recommend  to  parents  and  instructors,  a 
very  useful  and  interesting  book  for  children,  pub- 
lished lately  in  St.  Petersburgh,  under  the  title  of 
"  Conversations  upon  Nature."  It  is  ornamented  with 
twenty-eight  wood-cuts.' 

"  '  The  author  of  this  book,  has  taken  up  a  very 
good  idea,  to  make  children  acquainted  with  nature 
by  means  of  dialogues,  into  which  are  introduced,  in 
proper  places,  wood-cuts,  representing  the  subjects 
spoken  of  and  very  well  executed. 

" '  The  execution  of  the  work  fully  comes  up  to 
its  good  design,'  &c. 

"  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  with  much  respect,  yours 

sincerely, 

"JOSEPH  S.  ROPES." 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  June  22— July  4, 1840." 

The  following  letter  from  the  King  of  Siam  to  Mr. 
Gallaudet,  verbatim  et  literatim,  will,  we  are  sure,  be 
read  with  more  interest  in  his  very  broken  English, 
than  in  any  revision  or  correction  that  might  have 
been  made  : 

"  City  of  Bangkok,  Siam,  August  30th,  1848. 
"  To  the  Eev.  Mr.  T.  H.  Gallaudet,  the  author  of  several  small 
books  for  children  ;  Class  Book  of  Natural  Theology,  con- 
cerning the  human  soul ;  History  of  Joseph,  &c;  resident  of 
Hartford  Connecticut,  IT.  S.  A. 

"  Sir, — Having  perceived  your  skill  and  contriv- 
ances effects,  in  some  of  the  books  of  which  you  were 
author,  prepared  for  child  and  youth,  viz.,  Science  of 
Human  Soul,  Natural  Theology  (conversations  of  Mrs. 


294  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

Stanhope  and  her  son  Kobert),  History  of  Joseph,  and 
small  English  dictionary,  that  contains  plain  examples 
of  every  word,  and  received  also  your  pious  qualities 
from  of  the  American  missionaries  who  live  in  this 
country  and  speak  of  you,  I  was  very  glad  to  write 
you,  with  much  more  satisfication  and  gratitude  to  you, 
as  I  thought  and  imaged  that  I  am  alike  your  pupil  on 
your  absence,  because  I  have  known  and  remembered 
several  English  words  from  reading  some  the  foresaid 
books,  of  which  your  authority  was  entitled  on  first 
pages,  and  which  some  of  missionaries  and  English 
merchants  have  brought  here  for  themselves,  and  were 
borrowed  by  myself  from  them,  who  had  lent  me  to 
read  a  few  days,  that  they  have  limited  with.  I  was, 
therefore,  sorry  that  I  could  not  learn  much  more  les- 
sons from  your  stilees,  which  were  easily  to  be  under- 
stood for  me,  and  delightful  and  useful  to  me,  as  I  am 
just  studying  this  language  about  three  years  indeed. 

"I  was  therefore  brave  to  write  to  you,  asking  you 
for  some  certain  books,  which  you  may  image  or  pre- 
sume that  suitable  to  me,  for  easily  reading ;  every 
book  of  which  you  were  author,  and  which  were  print- 
ed, and  still  remained  some  at  your  hand,  or  every 
name  and  subjects  of  every  idiom's  book  that  you  may 
denote  to  me  in  your  answer. 

u  I  hope  very  surely  that  you  will  be  graceful  to  me, 
reading  this  my  manuscript,  though  I  am  your  heathen, 
and  was  not  acquainted  with  you  at  all. 

11 1  have  now  but  one  of  books  which  you  have  pre- 
pared. It  is  story  of  Joseph.  It  was  bestowed  to  me 
by  a  lady  of  Captain  Daniel  Brown,  who  is  my  affec- 
tionate friend.  I  please  much  morely  the  small  diction- 
ary that  contain  example  of  every  word,  but  I  could 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  295 

not  procure  for  myself  in  this  country  and  neighboring 
states.  Please  reply  me  through  care  of  some  of  the 
American  missionaries  who  are  living  in  our  country, 
and  with  whom  you  acquainted.  I  shall  pay  to 
them  for  the  books  which  you  mentioned  their  price, 
and  sent  me  through  here,  American  missionaries. 
Almost  every  one  of  them  acquainted  with  me  very 
exactly.  Please  pardon  me  if  I  mistake  by  unproper 
word,  and  sentence  and  overlook  if  my  this  letter  were 
written  ungrammatical,  as  I  am  just  learning  this 
language  indeed. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Your  friend,  &c, 

"  THE  PRIXCE  T.  Y.  CHAUFA  MONG  KUT, 

"  One  of  high  Buddhist  priests. 

"  P.S. — Please  address  me  in  your  answer  thus : 
'To  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  T.  Y.  Chaufa 
Mong  Kut,  of  Bangkok,  Siam,'  as  I  am  known  by  such 
manner  of  this  direction  to  most  of  foreigners  who  use 
Euglish,  that  your  letter  would  be  handed  to  me  soon. 

"T.  Y.  M." 


Mr.  Gallaudefs  Answer. 

"  City  of  Hartford,  State  of  Connecticut,  U.  S.  A., 
October  10th,  1848. 
"  To  his  Royal  Highness  Prince  Chou-Fah-Yai  Mong  Kut. 

"  Sir,— The  Kev.  D.  B.  Bradley,  M.  D.,  one  of  the 
Christian  missionaries  in  Bangkok,  tells  me  that  you 
have,  in  a  letter  to  him,  expressed  your  satisfaction  in 
having  read  some  books  of  which  I  am  the  author,  and 
that  you  would  be  pleased  to  accept  others  should  they 
be  sent  to  you.     In  this  I  feel  highly  honored,  by  a 


296  LIFE   AND   LABOBS   OF 

person  so  intelligent  and  distinguished  as  yourself.  I 
send  by  him,  therefore,  a  few  volumes,  of  most  of  which 
I  am  the  author,  and  of  which  I  beg  your  acceptance. 

"  They  are  chiefly  on  religious  subjects,  and  exhibit 
the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  which  I  most  devoutly  believe,  for  I  find 
evidence  which  perfectly  satisfies  me  that  the  Bible, 
which  contains  this  religion,  is  a  revelation  from  God. 
I  find,  too,  that  the  Savior  whom  it  offers  for  our 
acceptance,  is  just  such  a  Savior  as  the  erring  and  sin- 
ful beings  of  the  whole  human  family  need. 

11  How  can  we  obtain  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  but 
through  the  atoning  sacrifice  which  this  divine  Savior 
made  when  he  died  on  the  cross  ?  How  else  can  we 
be  restored  to  the  favor  of  God,  whom  we  have  so 
much  offended  by  our  transgressions  of  his  most  holy, 
just,  and  good  laws  ?  How  else  can  we  secure  an  im- 
mortal existence  of  purity  and  blessedness  beyond  the 
grave  ?  Is  the  Bible,  which  tells  us  of  this  only  way 
of  salvation,  truly  a  revelation  from  God  ?  If  it  is, 
then  no  other  system  of  religion,  as  a  system,  can  he  true  ; 
for  they  all  differ  from  the  Bible,  and  are  opposed  to 
it  in  many  essential  things. 

"  May  I  venture  to  beg  of  you  to  examine  and  care- 
fully reflect  upon  this  great  question?  To  read  the 
volumes,  "The  Bible  not  of  Man,"  and  "Bogue's 
Essay,"  which  I  send  you  ?  To  read  the  Bible  itself,  more 
particularly  the  New  Testament,  which  contains  an  ac- 
count of  the  life,  the  miracles,  the  teachings,  the  doings, 
the  sufferings,  and  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  shows 
why  he  came  into  our  world  ?  In  attending  to  this 
great  subject,  we  need  to  pray  to  the  Father  of  our 
spirits,  to  open  our  minds  to  the  discovery  of  the  Truth, 


REV.    THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  297 

and  our  hearts  to  the  reception,  love,  and  obedience  of 
the  Truth.  I  pray  that  his  Holy  Spirit  may  be  your 
teacher,  guide,  sanctifier  and  comforter. 

"  Should  you  find  leisure  to  let  me  know  that  the 
books  have  reached  you  in  safety,  and  what  you  think 
of  them,  it  would  be  a  favor  conferred  on 
"  Yours,  with  sincere  respect, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 

" P.  S. — I  cannot  but  hope  that  'The  Practical 
Spelling  Book,'  will  aid  you,  by  its  peculiar  system  of 
classification,  and  its  index,  in  overcoming  (if  you  have 
not  already  overcome  them),  the  difficulties  attending 
the  orthography  of  the  English  language,  and  that  the 
little  dictionary,  even,  will  not  be  without  some  use." 

Mr.  Gallaudet  was  exceedingly  desirous  of  seeing  the 
Bible  introduced  and  studied  as  a  classic  in  our  col- 
leges and  other  seminaries  of  a  higher  order.  Know- 
ins;  how  essential  it  was  to  enlist  men  of  high  stand- 
ing  and  wide  influence  throughout  the  country  in 
favor  of  it,  he  addressed  letters  to  such  as  he  thought 
would  approve  of  this  new  branch  of  a  public  educa- 
tion, and,  as  he  hoped,  would  be  ready  to  recom- 
mend it.  Two  of  their  answers  lie  before  me,  and  as 
they  were  from  Christian  laymen  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing in  their  respective  states,  they  are  here  inserted. 
These  letters  do  honor  to  the  heads  and  hearts  of  those 
illustrious  ornaments  of  their  profession. 

Hon.  Roger  M.  Sherman  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"Fairfield,  Xov.  2,1830. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — It  seems  to  me  evincive  of  the 
darkness   of  this  enlightened  age,  that  it   should  be 
13* 


298  LIFE  AND  LABOES  OF 

made  a  question  whether,  in  the  higher  institutions  for 
education,  a  place  should  be  allotted  for  teaching  those 
communications  which  have  been  made  to  the  human 
mind  by  its  great  Author,  with  a  direct  view  to  its 
moral  and  intellectual  elevation.  As  '  the  perversion 
of  the  best  things  converts  them  to  the  worst,'  so  the 
Scriptures  have  been  made  the  most  powerful  engine 
of  mental  degradation.  Man  was  a  nobler  being  in 
the  classic  ages  of  Greece  and  Eome,  than  during  the 
dark  centuries  of  religious  superstition  and  bigotry. 
Hence  the  Bible,  if  I  may  so  speak,  has  lost  its  popu- 
larity, and  the  friends  of  education  are  apprehensive  it 
may  be  the  cause  of  what  once,  in  so  appalling  a  degree, 
it  was  made  the  instrument.  And,  indeed,  when  a 
university  is  contemplated,  in  which  it  is  proposed  to 
blend  the  adherents  of  all  religious  denominations,  be- 
tween some  of  whom  there  exists  so  much  hostility,  it 
is  very  difficult  to  devise  a  plan  in  which  their 
mutual  jealousies  can  be  allayed.  There  is,  however, 
in  the  Bible,  an  immense  region,  entirely  without 
the  limits  of  polemic  theology,  abounding  in  intel- 
lectual, moral  and  celestial  treasures,  which  are  valued 
and  admired  by  all  in  proportion  as  they  are  known. 
This  field  is  sufficiently  spacious  for  a  most  useful 
professorship,  to  which  every  sectarian  peculiarity  should 
be  strictly  inhibited.  The  lecturer,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  a  proper  board,  and  guarded  by  the  keen 
and  jealous  vigilance  of  his  pupils,  would  be  easily 
withheld  from  the  forbidden  grounds.  The  friendly 
cooperation  of  various  religious  sects  for  the  advance- 
ment of  public  and  benevolent  objects,  which  has  dis- 
tinguished the  present  age,  renders  such  an  establish- 
ment much  more  feasible  than  it  would  have  been  half 


REV.   TIIOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  299 

a  century  ago.  I  believe  it  would  contribute  more,  in 
a  hundred  years  to  come,  to  the  melioration  of  the 
human  character,  and  the  advancement  of  public  and 
individual  interests,  than  any  other  of  the  higher 
branches  of  education. 

"  I  have  given  these  general  opinions  in  compliance 
with  the  request  in  your  friendly  letter ;  but  the  re- 
spectable committee,  with  whom  you  are  associated,  are 
so  much  more  competent  than  I  am  to  judge  correctly 
of  this  subject,  that  your  request  must  be  my  apology 
for  having  said  anything  at  all. 

"  Yours,  with  very  sincere  esteem, 

"  ROGER  M.  SHERMAN. 
"  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet." 


Wm.  Wirt  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Baltimore,  Nov.  1, 1830. 
"  Sir, — I  am  just  honored  with  your  letter  ^of  the 
23rd  ult.,  from  New  York.  It  has  found  me  immersed 
in  professional  business,  which  will  hold  me  engaged 
without  intermission  till  next  August.  I  am  happy  to 
find  this  interesting  topic  in  such  good  hands,  and  that 
the  determination  is  formed  to  give  it  a  thorough  and 
decisive  examination.  The  subject  is  too  large  for  my 
time  and  talents.  It  is  not,  indeed,  entirely  new  to 
me,  having  been  constrained  to  think  of  it  very  often 
by  the  unskillful  and  irreverent  manner  in  which  I 
have  seen  the  sacred  volume  handled  in  our  primary 
schools.  It  is  put  into  the  hands  of  children  who  are 
yet  contending  with  the  difficulties  of  learning  to  read, 
who  have  no  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  what 
they  are  reading,  and  are  so  often  chastised  for  their 


300  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

blunders,  that  they  contract  an  aversion  to  the  book 
itself,  and  are  never  afterwards  disposed  to  open  it  of 
their  own  accord.  Until  our  primary  schools  are  all 
supplied  with  patient,  enlightened,  skillful  and  pious 
teachers,  a  consummation  rather  to  be  wished  than  ex- 
pected, that  book  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  kept 
from  the  schools.  Children  ought,  indeed,  to  be  initi- 
ated in  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion  as  soon  as 
they  are  capable  of  receiving  them,  but  the  reading 
of  that  book,  as  it  is  commonly  read  in  schools,  is  not 
the  mode  of  doing  it. 

"  The  study  of  the  Bible,  '  as  a  classic,'  is,  I  take  it 
for  granted,  contemplated  for  young  men  at  a  mature 
age,  and  this  I  should  highly  approve,  under  proper 
direction  ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  as  it  is  the  Book  of 
Life,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  its  contents  is  indis- 
pensable, whereas,  in  truth,  there  is  not  one  in  a  thous- 
and among  us  who  has  ever  read  the  Bible  throughout. 
This  is  deplorable,  and  must  be  remedied  ;  nor  do  I 
see  any  better  remedy  than  that  which  I  understand 
you  to  propose.  Every  man,  whatever  may  be  his  in- 
tended calling  in  life,  is  vitally  and  eternally  interested 
in  the  thorough  understanding  of  that  book,  whereas 
the  common  impression  seems  to  be  that  it  is  the  busi- 
ness only  of  the  clergy  to  understand  it  and  teach  it. 
This  is  a  fundamental  error  in  our  education  which 
must  be  corrected,  and  I  think  that  you  are  in  the  pro- 
per course  to  apply  the  corrective.  You  would,  I  pre- 
sume, make  it  an  indispensible  part  of  the  collegiate 
course,  and  the  sine  qua  non  to  a  degree,  whatever  may 
be  the  intended  profession  of  the  student.  For  a  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  book,  it  is 
certainly  desirable  to  understand  the  original  language 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  SOI 

in  which  it  is  written,  and  it  is  said  that  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  that  language  in  which  the  Old  Testament 
is  written  is  a  matter  of  easy  attainment — not  a  mastery 
of  it,  but  a  sufficient  knowledge  to  test  the  accuracy  of 
the  translation.  If  this  be  so,  it  is  worth  the  time  and 
money  that  will  be  bestowed  on  it,  and  would,  with 
great  propriety,  enter  into  a  collegiate  course.  A 
knowledge  of  the  cognate  languages,  the  Persic,  Arabic, 
&c,  would  consume  more  time  than  a  student  could 
spare  from  other  studies,  and,  I  presume,  is  not  essential 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  which  I  understand  to 
have  been  written,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  phrases, 
in  the  Hebrew.  But  as  our  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  admitted,  I  believe,  to  be  generally  cor- 
rect, I  do  not  perceive  that  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  is 
indispensable  to  the  great  object  that  you  have  in  view. 
The  original  language  of  the  New  Testament  is  now 
so  established  a  part  of  education  in  all  colleges,  that  I 
presume  no  question  is  made  of  the  propriety  of  con- 
tinuing that. 

"But,  in  the  next  place,  a  dry  study  of  the  Bible, 
with  a  view  to  its  contents,  is  not,  I  presume,  the  only 
object  in  contemplation  ;  still  less  do  I  suppose  that  it 
is  to  be  studied  as  a  matter  of  taste  only.  It  is,  indeed, 
eminently  fitted,  by  the  simplicity,  beauty  and  su- 
blimity that  pervade  it,  for  the  cultivation  of  a  correct 
taste — and  this  will  fall  in,  very  properly,  as  incidental 
to  the  study ;  but  the  object,  I  think,  should  be  still 
higher  and  holier.  Considered  as  the  Word  of  God, 
and  the  Book  of  Life,  it  should  be  handled  with  habitu- 
al reverence,  and  every  student  should  be  taught  so  to 
regard  and  feel  it. 

"  Should  not  the  exegetic  method  of  the  German 


302  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 

universities  be  applied  to  the  study  of  this  book,  so 
far  as  that  method  is  applicable  and  practicable  ? 

"  Would  it  not  be  proper  to  connect  with  the  study 
of  the  sacred  volume  some  such  compilation  as  that  of 
'  Home's  Introduction  ?  '  It  gives  a  condensed  and 
powerful  view  of  the  evidences  of  the  authenticity  both 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  will  arm  the  stu- 
dent against  those  infidel  objections  which  he  will  but 
be  too  apt  to  encounter  in  his  journeys  through  life. 
I  should  consider  the  concomitant  study  of  some  such 
work  as  a  most  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible.  The  support  which  the  Christian  system  de- 
rives from  the  prophecies  that  foretold  it,  and  the  liv- 
ing fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of  Moses  with  regard  to 
the  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  render  it  extremely  interest- 
ing to  the  student  to  know  the  genuineness  of  the  pro- 
phecies themselves,  and  this  is  irresistibly  vouched  by 
the  mode  in  which  they  were  preserved,  read  openly, 
and  transmitted  for  so  many  centuries  before  the  com- 
ing of  the  Savior,  by  the  Jews  themselves,  the  enemies 
of  his  religion,  and  who  would,  therefore,  not  be  the 
persons  to  fabricate  evidence  in  support  of  it.  I  men- 
tion this  as  one  instance  of  the  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived from  preceding  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  by 
some  such  work  as  Home's.  The  first  volume  of  his 
Introduction  is,  perhaps,  all  that  is  necessary  on  this 
subject,  and  that  could  be  mastered  in  a  week  or  ten 
days.  It  connects  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to- 
gether in  a  very  interesting  manner ;  presents  the 
whole  scheme  most  impressively,  embodies  the  evi- 
dence, internal  and  external,  with  great  power,  and 
repels  the  leading  objections  of  infidels  with  a  candor 
and  force  that  form  an  impregnable  fortress  around 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  303 

the  rock  of  our  hope.  Home's  work  is,  to  be  sure,  only 
a  compilation,  but  it  condenses  into  a  small  compass 
the  power  of  many  works  which  a  young  man  would 
never  read,  and  brings  them  easily  within  the  reach  of 
every  mind.  With  such  a  preparation,  a  student  will 
advance  to  the  study  of  his  Bible  with  a  confidence 
and  reverence  which  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  without  it. 
And  I  am  satisfied  that  some  such  preparation  is  in- 
dispensable to  the  happy  accomplishment  of  the  great 
object  you  have  in  view.  A  young  man  ought  not  to 
be  put  to  study  the  Bible  as  he  would  a  heathen  classic, 
merely  for  its  facts,  its  principles,  or  its  beauties.  He 
should  be  taught  to  approach  it  with  awe,  and  to  re- 
gard it  as  it  is,  the  Book  of  Life  to  the  believer,  but  of 
death  to  the  infidel.  Of  course  there  ought  to  be  a 
separate  professor  for  this  study  ;  one  who  is  a  master 
of  the  whole  subject,  and  of  all  the  collateral  learning 
which  belongs  to  it ;  one  who  will  be  prepared  to 
answer  any  cavil,  and  to  point  out  any  beauty.  In- 
deed, I  should  think  it  is  well  worth  a  course  of 
lectures  from  such  a  professor.  In  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, a  clergyman  formed  a  class  of  }roung  ladies  for  the 
study  of  the  Jewish  antiquities  only,  and  rendered  it 
extremely  attractive  and  interesting  to  them  all.  A 
course  of  lectures  on  the  Bible,  dividing  it  into 
branches,  historical,  prophetical,  doctrinal,  and  discuss- 
ing its  evidences,  as  wrell  as  indicating  its  beauties, 
might  be  rendered  a  most  beautiful  and  a  most  instruct- 
ive course  in  the  hands  of  a  devout  man  of  genius. 
Such  a  course  of  lectures,  interspersed  with  occasional 
examinations,  would,  I  think,  be  the  most  radical  and 
effective  mode  of  studying  it  classically.  It  would, 
indeed,  take  time  to  do  this  well,  but  it  is  surely  better 


304  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

worth  the  time  than  any  other  branch  of  human  learn- 
ing ;  and,  besides,  the  course  need  not  be  rendered  so 
laborious  and  exclusive  as  it  would  necessarily  be  for 
theological  students  designed  for  the  Church.  Under 
proper  regulations,  it  would  form  a  fine  relief  from 
other  studies,  and  answer  all  the  purposes  you  have  in 
view.  Every  Christian  father  and  mother  would  un- 
questionably be  delighted  to  have  their  children  thus 
instructed,  and  I  have  no  doubt  one  consequence  of  it 
would  be  our  having  many  more  efficient  hands  for 
that  vineyard  which  is  now  so  woefully  destitute  of 
skillful  hands  to  dress  it. 

"  The  book,  I  think,  should  be  taught  on  a  great 
plan  and  with  great  views,  in  which  sectarian  princi- 
ples should  not  be  permitted  to  mingle.  Those  ques- 
tions of  doctrine  and  discipline  which  have  so  divided 
the  Christian  world,  to  the  great  reproach  of  the 
Church,  ought  to  be  kept  out  of  view  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. In  all  the  fundamental  points,  all  the  churches 
agree.  They  all  agree  that  there  is  no  salvation  but 
through  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer,  and  that  faith 
which  is  evidenced  by  a  pious  life.  The  course  of 
study  should  be  such  as  parents  of  every  Christian  de- 
nomination would  approve ;  and  they  would  all  approve 
such  a  course  of  study  as  would  increase  our  knowl- 
edge and  reverence  for  the  Bible,  and  make  the  rising 
generation  Christians  in  practice  as  well  as  faith. 

"  You  perceive  that  I  am  merely  throwing  out  such 
hints  and  views  as  have  struck  my  own  mind,  in  the 
midst  of  my  professional  occupations.  My  duties  are  of 
such  a  character  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  me  to  offer 
a  digested  scheme,  or  even  to  prepare  an  essay.  It  is 
very  possible  that  I  may  have  even  mistaken  your 


KEV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  305 

object;  but  I  feel  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and 
have  thought  it  better  to  hazard  these  hasty  reflections 
than  to  neglect  your  letter  altogether. 

"I  beg  you  to  accept  them,  such  as  they  are,  as  an 
imperfect  evidence  of  the  hearty  good  will  which  I 
bear  to  your  subject,  and  of  the  respect  with  which 
"I  remain,  sir, 

11  Your  obedient  servant, 
"  Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet."  "  WILLIAM  WIRT. 

The  following  paper,  without  date,  contains  valuable 
suggestions. 

"  How  does  a  boy  learn  Latin  ?  He  might  by  hearing 
it  spoken ;  but  he  has  to  learn  it  through  the  medium 
of  a  translation.  He  is  put  to  the  study  of  the 
dead  languages,  as  soon  as  he  becomes  acquainted 
with  the  colloquial  part  of  his  mother  tongue.  He 
should  know  his  mother  tongue  first,  if  pursuing  a 
classical  education.  But  why  should  all  our  youth 
be  compelled  to  study  Latin  and  Greek  thus  ?  The 
circumstances  of  the  parent  may  not  permit ;  the  pe- 
culiar taste  and  habits  of  the  boy  may  not  justify  it ; 
his  future  pursuits  in  life  may  not  require  it.  Some 
have  a  strong  passion  for  the  sciences.  In  our  country, 
particularly,  the  application  of  the  principles  of  science 
to  the  useful  arts  and  the  comforts,  the  conveniences 
and  luxuries  of  life,  are  manifest.  Eare  talents  in  this 
department  are  continually  developing  themselves. 
Shall  such  not  have  the  privilege  of  deriving  an  edu- 
cation, such  as  will  enlarge  their  minds,  be  accommo- 
dated to  their  peculiar  tastes  and  predilections,  and 
qualify  them  preeminently  as  men  of  science,  if  not  of 


306  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

literature  so  called,  to  do  honor  to  themselves  and  their 
country,  and  to  contribute  their  proportion  of  effort 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men  ?  At  any 
rate,  the  experiment  is  worth  making  a  fair  trial  of, 
what  progress  an  intelligent  mind  might  make  in  Eng- 
lish literature,  and  a  perfect  command  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. Why  is  it  that  we  meet  with  so  many  men 
in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life,  who,  without  knowing 
Latin  and  Greek,  use  the  English  language  with  great 
force,  precision,  and  elegance,  while  we  find  that  it  is 
sometimes  more,  and  much  more,  than  the  study  of 
the  dead  languages,  which  is  necessary  to  enable  a 
youth  to  write  English  composition  well,  and  to  speak 
with  force  and  eloquence.  I  wish  to  be  understood, 
I  do  not  mean  to  decry  the  classics  ;  let  them  be  pur- 
sued in  our  colleges  ;  but  let  us  have  one  where  those 
of  a  scientific  turn  may  get  a  liberal  education." 

Mr.  Gallaudet  never  claimed  any  particular  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Muses.  Though  he  often  gazed 
with  admiration  on  the  shining  pinnacle  of  Parnassus, 
he  never  thought  of  attempting  to  climb  there.  He 
had  other  toils  below,  which  left  him  little  time  for 
any  such  pleasure  excursions,  and  which  he  thought 
more  important.  The  most  indulgence  he  allowed 
himself,  was  occasionally  to  stroll  about  the  base  of  the 
mountain,  and  gather  a  few  leaves  and  wild  flowers 
for  his  scrap  book.  Nevertheless,  some  of  his  fugitive 
pieces,  written  chiefly  quite  early  in  life,  show  that  he 
was  not  quite  destitute  of  poetic  genius,  which,  had 
it  been  cultivated,  might  have  flowered  out  and  ripened 
into  rich  clusters. 

From  the  many  short  effusions  which  have  come 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  807 

into  my  hands,  I  select  the  following  as  specimens, 
though  not  more  worthy  than  many  others  of  a  place 
in  this  volume. 


NIGHT. 

"While  'long  the  path  of  distant  years 

I  stretch  an  aching  eye, 
Thorny  to  me  each  step  appears 

Of  sad  futurity. 

I  see  no  verdant  bowers  of  ease, 

No  shades  of  calm  repose, 
No  cooling  streams  of  life,  nor  trees 

Where  fruit  of  Eden  grows. 

But  all  is  one  dark,  dreary  waste, 
O'ercast  with  midnight  gloom  ; 

And  through  it,  sorrowing,  I  haste 
Down  to  the  silent  tomb. 

0  Thou,  who,  while  on  earth,  did'st  know 

The  keenest  pangs  of  grief, 
By  all  thy  agony  of  woe, 

I  pray  thee  send  relief! 


The  broken  reed,  0  !  let  it  live, 
That  droops  its  head  so  low ; 

The  smoking  flax  again  revive, 
And  bid  its  embers  glow. 

Then  will  I  strive  the  path  to  tread, 
Thy  feet  have  trod  before  ; 

And,  thorny  though  it  be,  to  dread 
Its  toilsome  length  no  more. 


308  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 


MORNING. 


Unfading  source  of  endless  joy, 
My  Heavenly  Father,  and  my  friend ! 

O !  may  thy  love  my  thoughts  employ, 
To  thee  my  best  affections  tend. 

When,  on  the  page  of  memory, 
The  past  with  grateful  heart  I  trace, 

In  every  providence  I  see 

Sweet  testimonials  of  thy  grace. 

Goodly  my  heritage  has  been, 

Most  pleasantly  have  fall'n  my  lines ; 

And  still,  in  every  passing  scene, 

Thy  kindness,  gracious  Father,  shines. 

What  though  thy  chast'ning  hand  has  laid 

Affliction  on  my  feeble  frame  : 
Still  let  my  mind  on  thee  be  stayed, 
Still  let  me  bless  thy  holy  name. 

For  if  I  share  my  Father's  love, 

(How  dear  that  humble  hope  to  me !) 

Then  will  thy  chast'nmgs  kindly  prove, 
That  thus  I  am  allied  to  thee. 


O,  teach  me,  then,  to  bear  the  rod ! 

Nor  let  one  murm'ring  thought  arise  : 
My  soul !  submissive  be  to  God, 

Who  thus  his  children  purifies. 


REV.   THOS.    II.   GALLAUDET.  309 


A  MARRIAGE  HYMN. 

0  Thou,  who  once  a  bidden  guest 

Did'st  kindly  condescend  to  be, 
And,  with  thy  welcome  presence,  blessed 

The  marriage-feast  in  Galilee  ; 

This  festive  scene,  these  nuptial  rites, 
Deign  with  thy  presence,  too,  to  crown  ; 

And,  on  the  pair  whom  love  unites, 
Shed  thy  best  blessings  largely  down. 

Be  thou  their  guardian,  guide,  and  friend, 

^Vhile  through  life's  devious  paths  they  roam  ; 

And  still  let  all  their  footsteps  tend 
Towards  Heaven,  their  safe  and  lasting  home. 

In  sorrow,  let  each  one  impart 
Sweet  solace  to  the  other's  breast ; 

And  soothe  the  anguish  of  the  heart, 
And  calm  the  troubled  thoughts  to  rest. 

In  joy,  when  all  around  them  smiles 

Like  Eden's  bright  and  beauteous  bowers, 

And  Hope's  enchanting  view  beguiles 
(If  such  must  be)  their  heavier  hours — 

Let  their  warm  gratitude  arise, 
Free,  from  the  altar  of  their  hearts, 

And  waft  its  incense  to  the  skies, 
To  Him  who  every  good  imparts. 

To  his  delightful  service  given, 

Be  their  whole  soul,  and  strength,  and  mind  ; 
Till,  ripened  by  his  grace  for  heaven, 

In  endless  union  they  are  joined. 


310  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 


(Composed  to  be  sung  at  our  family  prayers,  on  the  evening  of 
Saturday,  July  11th,  1847. 

What  a  happy,  happy  meeting  ! 

Father,  mother,  children  here  ; 
Each  the  other  gladly  greeting, 

All,  again,  at  home  so  dear ! 


Gratitude  each  bosom  swelling, 
For  our  mercies'  ceaseless  flow ; 

Mem'ry  her  fond  story  telling, 
Since  we  met,  a  year  ago  ! 

All,  our  Heavenly  Father  praising, 
Praising  with  a  hopeful  heart ; 

To  him  our  thanksgiving  raising, 
Who  has  kept  us  while  apart. 

On  him  still  our  faith  depending, 
For  each  need,  till  life  is  o'er, 

And,  all  separation  ending, 
Then  to  meet,  and  part  no  more 

God  of  mercy !  spare  us,  spare  us, 
Till  we  ripe  for  Heaven  shall  be  ; 

Till  thy  grace,  through  Christ,  prepare  us 
Ever  there  to  dwell  with  thee  ! 

There !  0,  what  a  happy  meeting  ! 

Full  of  peace,  and  joy,  and  love ! 
Each  the  other  gladly  greeting, 

All,  again,  at  home  above  ! 


EEV.   THOS.    II.   GALLAUDET.  311 


When  in  Paris,  in  1816,  one  Sabbath,  I  was  leaving  the 
Protestant  Church  of  the  Oratoire,  after  service,  I  fell  into  con- 
versation with  a  young  Englishman  in  the  crowd,  for  a  few 
minutes,  which  occasioned  the  following  : 

Stkanger  !  I  know  thee  not  by  name, 

And  yet  my  heart  is  knit  to  thine ; 
Our  Heavenly  Father  is  the  same, 

And  thy  Eedeemer,  too,  is  mine. 

Stranger  !  I  read  it  in  thine  eye, 

And  in  thy  accents  meek  and  mild, 
And  in  thy  words  of  charity, 

That  God  has  chosen  thee  his  child. 


The  moment  was  a  fleeting  one, 
In  which  we  felt  the  Christian  tie, 

But  while  these  eyes  behold  the  sun, 
Sacred  shall  be  its  memory. 

Perchance,  beyond  this  world  of  care, 
God  may  permit  our  souls  to  meet, 

And  in  the  realms  of  bliss  to  share 
Eemembrance  of  an  hour  so  sweet. 

Meanwhile,  his  guardian  care  attend 
Thy  pilgrimage,  where  e'er  it  be  ; 

The  blessings  of  his  grace  descend 
Into  thy  bosom  constantly. 


312  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 


CHRISTIAN  HOPE. 

Written  on  reading  a  beautiful  poem,  but  deficient  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel 

Sweet  Harp  of  Hope,  whose  melodies  delight 
Th'  enraptured  ear  like  song  of  seraphim  ; 

When  thou  dost  sing  the  parting  spirit's  flight, 
How  solemn  and  sublime  thy  requiem  hymn ! 

But,  ah !  one  heavenly  strain  thou  wantest  still, 
And  has  that  strain  ne'er  won  thy  master's  heart  ? 

Heard  from  the  sacred  top  of  Zion's  hill, 
Apollo's  lute  such  notes  could  ne'er  impart. 

It  warbled  never  from  Parnassus'  height, 

Nor  to  the  Roman  lyre  its  music  lent ; 
Judea's  shepherds,  tending  flocks  by  night, 

First  heard  its  sweet  and  soothing  ravishment. 

'  Twas  sung  by  angels,  and  it  told  of  One 
"Who  came  from  Heaven  our  sinful  world  to  bless  : 

Th'  Almighty  Father's  everlasting  Son, 
Jesus,  the  Savior,  man  of  lowliness. 

This  strain,  though  faintly  caught  and  feebly  sung 

In  pealing  anthem,  or  in  softer  psalm, 
Hath  oft  been  heard  from  rapt  devotion's  tongue 

Shedding  o'er  pious  breasts  a  holy  calm. 

And  round  th'  Eternal's  light-encircled  throne, 

Endless  shall  rise  its  choral  symphony, 
From  golden  harps  of  Heaven-instructed  tone, 

And  sweetest  voice  of  angel  minstrelsy. 

Such  strain,  enchanting  harp  !  thou  wantest  still ; 

0  !  were  thy  master  taught  its  rapturous  note, 
Hope's  brightest  visions  would  his  bosom  fill, 

And  sweeter  music  through  his  numbers  float. 


EEV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  313 

Then  when  he  sung  of  life's  expiring  day, 
How  Hope  alone  can  cheer  it,  Faith  illume  ; 

That  Hope  would  rest  on  Christ,  its  only  stay, 
That  Faith  to  Heaven  look  upward  from  his  tomb. 


TO  MIRTH. 

Mirth,  thou  dost  cost  me  much  ; 
For  when  thy  chaplet  round  my  brow  I  weave, 
Full  of  gay  flowers  and  blithesome  buds  of  joy, 
A  momentary  fragrance  yielding,  soon 
My  temple  feels  their  thorns,  keen-piercing  ;  soon 
Alone  the  thorns  remain,  the  flowers  so  gay 
Quick  wither,  and  the  buds  that  promise  made, 
Deceitful,  of  perpetual  blossoming, 
Mock,  as  they  droop  their  dying  heads,  the  hand 
That  was  so  idle  as  to  gather  them. 

The  thorns  alone  remain,  a  painful  crown, 
Unlike  the  one  of  cruel  mockery, 
Which  He  once  meekly  bore  —  the  Man  of  Sorrows. 
That  crown  pressed  sore  upon  his  head,  and  marred, 
Euthless,  his  comely  face,  with  its  own  blood  ; 
But  conscience  shrunk  not  from  the  pangs  it  made, 
Nor  felt  them  aught :  for  innocence  and  peace 
Within  his  holy  breast  held  reign  triumphant. 
But,  ah  !  the  crown  thou  weavest,  Mirth,  hath  thorns 
That  pierce  the  soul,  and  make  the  conscience  bleed. 
Thy  heedless  votary,  I've  sometimes  borne  it, 
And  dizzy  grew,  as  played  before  my  eyes 
Its  shifting  hues  of  thousand  colors  bright, 
Fast  fading,  like  the  rainbow's  melting  form, 
To  nothingness. 

Mirth,  thou  dost  cost  me  much, 
And  I  would  fain  part  with  thee  ;  while  I  woo, 
Occasional,  at  well-befitting  times, 
14 


314  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

And  hours  discreet  of  relaxation  due, 
Thee,  chaster,  milder  sister,  Cheerfulness, 
Whose  easy  smile,  and  placid  brow,  and  look 
Of  sober  joy,  around  the  social  hearth, 
Shed  bright  tranquillity  ;  while  now  and  then, 
In  somewhat  graver  mood,  though  not  austere, 
A  word  thou  dropp'st,  remembrance  to  revive, 
Of  brighter,  happier  scenes  beyond  the  grave, 
Lest  we  too  much  forget  them,  and  to  show 
The  unthinking  that  thou  canst  walk,  hand  in  hand, 
With  those  who  bend  their  faces  heavenward, 
And  strew  some  flowers,  remains  of  Paradise, 
To  cheer  their  pathway  upward  to  the  skies. 


ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FRIEND. 

(LEVERETT  H.   TRUMBULL,   SON  OF  JUDGE  TRUMBULL.) 

A  rose  expanding  to  the  spring, 

Its  brightest  tints  unblown, 
Was  by  the  gale's  relentless  wing 

Upon  the  cold  earth  strown. 


Oh  !  had  the  gale  passed  gentler  by, 
And  spared  this  opening  rose, 

'  Twould  soon  have  burst  upon  the  eye 
The  fairest  flower  that  blows. 


Yet  shall  mild  zephyrs  stealing  where 
Its  leaves  in  sad  dispersion  lie, 

Long  waft  its  sweets  upon  the  air, 
And  thus  preserve  its  memory. 


REV.   TIIOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  315 

THE  RIVAL  ROSES. 

A   FABLE. 

'  Mid  garden  flowers  of  choicest  hue 

A  tree  of  lovely  roses  grew  ; 

Itself  more  fair  than  all  the  rest, 

"Was  by  the  gardener  caressed. 

From  day's  first  dawning  to  its  close, 

Each  opening  bud  and  blooming  rose 

The  kindness  of  his  fostering  care, 

And  equal  love,  alike  did  share  ; 

While  Heaven,  too,  propitious  smiled 

Upon  the  gard'ner's  favorite  child. 

Sol  cheered  it  with  his  genial  ray  ; 

Soft  showers  would  love  to  pass  that  way  ; 

The  cloud  bestowed  its  friendly  shade  ; 

And  zephyrs  gently  round  it  played. 

Fair  and  more  fair  the  rose-tree  grew, 

And  blessed  the  gard'ner's  frequent  view. 

One  day,  as  he  admiring  stood, 

Each  rose  its  sweetest  graces  showed  ; 

Each  with  the  other  seemed  to  vie, 

And  court  their  faithful  guardian's  eye. 

And  as  he  gazed  he  seemed  to  hear 

A  mingled  sound  of  voices  near. 

He  listens,  and  his  wonder  grows, 

"While  speaks  aloud  each  blooming  rose. 

"  On  me  thy  kindest  look  bestow, 

For  see  how  beauteous  I  grow  ; 

What  glowing  tints  my  leaves  o'erspread, 

How  choice  the  sweet  peufume  they  shed. 

Not  one  among  my  sisters  dare 

With  me  iD  loveliness  compare. 

See !  how  they  droop  and  blush  to  own 

Myself  entitled  to  the  throne." 

"  Say,  queen  of  flowers,  by  right  I  claim 

My  due  preeminence  of  fame." 


316  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

Thus  each,  a  rival  of  the  rest, 
Itself  deemed  fairest,  sweetest,  best. 
The  gard'ner,  fill'd  with  grief,  replied  : 
"  Cease,  thus,  to  show  a  foolish  pride, 
Ye  children  of  a  constant  care, 
Who  equally  my  fondness  share. 
Your  parent  stock  my  labor  reared, 
And  when  your  infant  buds  appeared, 
Their  growth  was  cherished  still  by  me, 
With  late  and  early  industry. 
Kind  Heaven  deigned  my  care  to  crown 
And  shed  its  choicest  influence  down. 
For  aught  you  have  of  sweet  and  fair, 
To  Him,  whose  providential  care 
Forgets  not  e'en  the  floweret  small, 
You  stand  indebted  for  it  all. 
What,  if  some  one  more  fair  appears, 
And  richer  tints  of  beauty  wears, 
And  round  a  sweeter  fragrance  throws, 
Than  doth  its  neighboring  sister  rose  ? 
This  difference  Heaven  itself  bestows. 
Blush,  then,  at  such  vain  rivalry, 
And  others'  merits  learn  to  see  — 
To  see  with  joy  that  others  share 
Heaven's  equal  influence  and  care. 
Thus  shall  a  modest  loveliness 
Each  rose  with  sweeter  graces  dress. 
Each  borrow  beauty  from  the  rest, 
And  in  the  general  joy  be  blest." 


IMITATED  FROM  COLLINS. 

How  sleep  the  good,  who  sink  to  rest 
With  their  Redeemer's  favor  blest : 
When  dawns  the  day,  by  seers  of  old, 
In  sacred  prophecy  foretold, 
They  then  shall  burst  their  humble  sod, 
And  rise  to  meet  their  Savior  God. 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  317 

To  seats  of  bliss,  by  angel-tongue, 

With  rapture  is  their  welcome  sung  : 
And  at  their  tomb,  when  evening  gray 
Hallows  the  hour  of  closing  day, 
Shall  Faith  and  Hope  a  while  repair, 
To  dwell  with  weeping  Friendship  there. 

It  is  a  touching  circumstance  that  this  effusion  from 
the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gallaudet,  should  have 
been  adapted  to  the  mournful  music  of  a  dirge,  at  the 
funeral  obsequies  with  which  the  City  of  Hartford 
deplored  its  loss,  and  paid  a  tribute  of  honor  to  his 
memory. 

The  fear  that  I  may  be  thought  to  invade  the  sacred 
privacy  of  domestic  life,  will  lead  me  to  omit  a  large 
part  of  the  correspondence  between  Mr.  Gallaudet 
and  his  family,  and  the  whole  of  that  which  passed 
between  him  and  his  beloved  wife  ;  but  I  trust  I  shall 
be  pardoned,  if  from  the  many  letters  which  he  wrote 
to  his  children,  I  select  the  following,  and  bring  them 
together,  as  presenting  in  one  view  the  yearnings 
of  an  affectionate  Christian  father  over  his  rising 
offspring. 

To  his  son  Thomas. 

"  Hartford,  Sept.  11th,  1843. 

"  My  Dear  Sox, — Your  present  location  and  pros- 
pects, as  described  in  your  late  letter,  are  highly 
gratifying  to  us.  May  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  grace 
guide  you  into  an  intelligent,  faithful,  and  successful 
discharge  of  your  duties. 

"You  speak  of  dull  scholars.  Let  them  have  a 
double  share  of  your  sympathy  and  attention.  Teach- 
ers— I  speak  from  experience — are  much  too  apt  to 


318  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

bestow  both,  in  a  disproportionate  and  marked  degree, 

upon  the  brilliant.     To  cultivate  the  powers  of  the 

latter  is  the  most  interesting ;  to  encourage  and  bring 

forward  the  really  stupid  the  most  benevolent.     It  is 

an  exercise  of  the  self-denial  which  the  Gospel  enjoins. 

You  have  precious  immortal  souls  under  your  care. 

O,  strive  by  prayer,  by  precept,  and  example,  to  lead 

all  within  the  reach  of  your  influence,  to  Christ. 

"  Remember  me,  remember  us  all  in  your  prayers. 

Our  very  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Peet,  to  Miss  Dudley, 

and  the  other  members  of  your  family.     The  Lord 

guide  and  bless  you. 

"  From  your  affectionate  father, 

"T.  H.  G." 


To  the  same. 

"  Hartford,  Nov.  29th,  1844. 
"  My  Dear  Son, — You  letter  by  Mr.  Bartlett  was, 
in  its  announcement  of  one  fact,  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  us;  while  we  felt  that  disappointment  the 
more  deeply,  as  we  assembled  round  the  family  board 
and  found  you  the  only  one  missing  on  the  sacred 
festivity  of  yesterday.  Ah !  it  is  melancholy  and  in- 
structive to  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  stern 
destroyer  will  make  one  and  another  place  vacant,  till 
the  whole  group  will  be  dissolved.  Let  us  all  see  to 
it  that  we  are  prepared  to  reassemble  at  a  more  general 
and  joyous  feast  in  the  Heavens.  Shall  one  be  missing 
there,  if  our  prayers,  our  example,  with  its  salutary 
influence;  our  conversation,  with  its  winning  attrac- 
tions; our  correspondence,  with  its  earnest  monitory 
suggestions ;  our  efforts  of  Christian  zeal  and  prudence, 


REV.   TliOS.   n.   GALLAUDET.  319 

can  prevent  it?  What  a  fearful  responsibility  rests 
upon  those  of  a  family  who  publicly  profess  to  be  the 
followers  of  Christ,  when  they  see  those  around  them, 
to  whom  they  are  bound  by  the  tenderest  ties,  giving 
no  satisfactory  evidence  of  an  interest  in  the  great 
salvation.  It  should  temper  even  the  joyousness  of 
youth,  and  leave  some  occasions,  at  least,  for  the  affec- 
tionate urgency  of  solemn  expostulation.  The  Lord 
guide,  defend;  keep  and  bless  you,  my  dear  son. 
"Your — as  he  always  has  been  and  ever  will  be — 

"  Affectionate  father, 

"T.  H.  G." 


To  the  same. 

"  Hartford,  Feb.  4th,  1845. 

"  My  Dear  Son, — I  thank  you  for  yours  of  Janu- 
ary 27th,  with  the  extracts,  in  substance,  from  Mr. 
Day's  report,  which,  however,  I  did  not  receive  till  I 
returned  from  Boston.  The  family  are  greatly  obliged 
to  you  for  your  late  kind  letters.  They  will  write 
soon.  E.  wrote  the  following  prayer,  strictly  his  own, 
at  my  request.  He  is  a  lovely  boy.  Oh,  pray  that 
he  may  be  an  early,  faithful  and  successful  follower 
of  Christ,  and  serve  him  in  the  Gospel  ministry. 

"  '  O  Lord,  we  thank  thee  for  the  light  of  another 
Sabbath  morning,  and  for  the  comforts  of  the  past 
week.  We  pray  thee,  0  Lord,  to  wash  away  our  sins 
in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  give  us  new  hearts. 
We  pray  thee  bless  the  one  of  the  family  who  is 
absent  from  us.     For  Christ's  sake.     Amen.' 

"  Look  upward.  Be  careful,  be  watchful ;  guard 
against  your  peculiar  temptations  and  easily  besetting 
sins ;   '  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil ; '  be  heavenly- 


320  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

minded.  Follow  Christ ;  devote  yourself  more  entirely 
to  his  service ;  strive  to  win  souls  to  him.  May  his 
grace  ever  be  with  you,  my  dear  son. 

"Your  affectionate  father,  «T.  H.  G." 


To  his  daughter  Elizabeth. 

"  Hartford,  Nov.  22d,  1845. 

1  My  Dear  Daughter, — I  have  been  trying,  and 
trying,  and  trying,  for  some  time  past,  to  find  a  leisure 
hour  to  sit  down  quietly  and  write  you.  But  many 
and  increasing  cares  have  prevented.  I  wrote  your 
dear  husband  about  a  week  ago,  and  that,  I  suppose, 
is  pretty  much  the  same  as  writing  to  you.  So  you 
must  not  think  that  I  forget  you.  No ;  I  think  of  you 
and  Thomas  a  great  deal,  and  pray  for  you  both  daily, 
that  God  would  bless  you  and  shed  down  his  holy 
spirit  upon  you,  and  lead  you  both  to  be  the  sincere 
and  faithful  followers  of  his  Son  our  Savior.  Let  us 
never  forget  that  it  is  only  by  repentance  for  our  sios, 
and  faith  in  Christ,  proved  to  be  true  by  our  love  and 
obedience  to  God,  that  we  can  hope  to  enjoy  his  favor 
in  this  world,  and  be  admitted  to  Heaven  hereafter. 
It  is  very  unwise  and  dangerous  to  delay  attending  to 
the  concerns  of  the  soul.  Sickness  may  come,  death 
may  come,  and  unexpectedly  too,  and  the  soul  be  lost. 

"  Cannot  you,  and  Thomas,  and  Jane  spend  Thanks- 
giving with  us  on  Thursday  of  this  week  ?  Do  come 
if  you  can,  or  any  of  your  family.  We  are  all  in 
usual  health,  and  send  much  love  to  you  all.  God 
bless,  and  guide,  and  comfort  you. 

"  Your  affectionate  second  father,        «  T.  H.  G." 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  321 

To  Alice   Gallaudet. 

"  At  the  Notcii  House,  July  24th,  1846. 
11  Dear  Alice, — I  left  Center  Harbor,  which  is  near 
Red  Hill,  on  the  beautiful  Winnipisseogee  Lake,  on 
Wednesday  morning — nine  passengers  inside  the  stage 
and  four  on  the  outside,  besides  the  driver.  It  rained 
hard  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  were  glad  to  reach  old 
Mr.  Crawford's,  in  a  sequestered  interval  of  the  Saco 
River,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  lofty  mountains. 
Yesterday  it  continued  raining  till  the  close  of  the  day, 
so  that  we  were  kept  within  doors,  except  some  of  the 
gentlemen  who  went  trout-fishing  in  the  wild  and  clear 
Saco,  which  winds  through  the  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  land  which  Mr.  Crawford  has  cleared  up.  He 
is  a  remarkable  man,  seventy-nine  years  old,  well 
known  in  all  these  parts.  He  yet  clambers  over  the 
mountains  with  an  elastic  step.  He  told  me  this  morn- 
ing if  I  should  meet  a  bear  anywhere  thereabouts,  just 
to  look  him  full  in  the  face  and  tell  him  '  Old  Craw- 
ford's coming,'  and  he  would  run  off  and  give  me  no 
trouble !  This  morning  eight  of  us  gentlemen,  on 
horseback,  with  a  guide  on  foot,  set  out  to  ascend 
Mount  Crawford.  We  were  nearly  an  hour  in  reach- 
ing the  summit.  What  a  sublime  prospect !  The 
day  was  a  fine  one.  Mountain  rose  behind  mountain 
in  every  direction,  many  higher  than  the  one  on  which 
we  stood.  Among  these,  Mount  Washington,  the  high- 
est of  the  White  Mountains,  six  or  seven  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  stood  preeminent.  I  had 
never  seen  the  like  before.  We  spent  an  hour  there. 
The  descent  was  at  first  rather  startling  to  me,  for  one 
misstep  of  the  horse  might  have  been  attended  with 
14* 


622  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

serious  consequences.  But  I  soon  found  that  the  ani- 
mal was  very  careful  and  sure-footed,  and  I  rode  along 
fearlessly,  relying  on  that  kind  Providence  which  has 
so  often  preserved  me. 

"  I  often,  often,  think  of  you  all,  and  daily  commend 
you  to  God  for  his  protection  and  blessing.  0,  let 
us  think  more  of  him,  and  love  him  more,  and  trust  in 
his  Son  as  our  only  Savior.  We  need  this  Savior. 
How  can  we  have  our  sins  forgiven  without  relying 
on  him  ?  Oh,  pray,  pray,  my  dear  Alice,  and  all  of 
you,  for  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  and 
sanctify  your  hearts  to  lead  you  to  repentance  for  sin 
and  to  faith  in  Christ. 

"  Your  affectionate  "FATHER." 


To  his  son  William. 
"  Hanover,  Dartmouth  College,  July  29th,  1846. 

"  My  Dear  William, — I  wrote  Alice  a  long  letter 
a  few  days  since  from  the  White  Mountains.  The  let- 
ter wrhich  I  got  there  at  the  Notch  House,  was  a  great 
refreshment.  I  heartily  approve  of  Katy's  going  to 
the  sea  side,  and  pray  God  to  make  it  the  means  of 
benefiting  her  health.  I  shall  be  very  anxious  to  hear 
how  she  does,  and  indeed  how  you  all  do.  Write  me 
immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this,  as  many  of  you 
as  possibly  can,  and  as  much  as  you  can,  and  give  me 
particulars  about  each  of  the  family. 

"I  left  the  White  Mountains  last  Saturday,  and  ar- 
rived at  the  Franconia  Iron  Works,  passing  through 
Littleton,  which  you  can  easily  find  on  the  map.  I 
called  on  an  old  sea  captain,  agent  of  the  company  and 
postmaster,  whom  I  once  knew  in  Salem,  Mass.,  and 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  323 

Lad  a  long  cliat  with  him.  He  was  kind  enough  to 
weigh  me.  How  much  do  you  think  I  weighed? 
One  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds!  So  I  have 
gained  five  pounds  since  I  left  Hartford.  I  think  a 
good  deal  of  this  has  been  made  out  of  the  rye-and- 
indian  bread  which  they  make  in  all  the  region  through 
which  I  have  traveled,  and  which  I  do  hope  your 
mother  will  learn  how  to  make  before  I  return. 

"  Monday  morning  my  host,  Mr.  Oakes,  and  myself, 
started  in  an  open  one-horse  wagon  to  see  the  curiosities 
of  the  Franconia  Notch.  "We  rode  twent}r-two  miles 
going  and  coming ;  took  a  foot  path  in  the  woods  to 
see  the  famous  Flume,  a  cascade  and  precipitous  tor- 
rent which  part  of  the  way  runs  through  wild  and 
perpendicular  rocks.  "We  saw  also  the  Old  Man  of  the 
Mountains,  Echo  Lake,  near  Mount  La  Fayette,  and 
the  other  beautiful  lake.  The  scenery  of  the  Franco- 
nia Notch  is,  I  think,  taken  as  a  whole,  decidedly 
more  impressive  and  soul-stirring  than  that  of  the 
Notch  of  the  White  Mountains. 

"  Your  affectionate  •«  FATHER." 


To  his  son  Wallace. 

u  Montreal,  August  10th,  1846. 
"  My  Dear  Wallace,— I  wrote  Catharine  from  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  a  few  days  since.  William's  letter 
of  the  1st  I  found  on  my  arrival  here,  with  your 
mother's  and  Catharine's.  Katy  must  try  to  do  some- 
thing effectual  for  her  headache.  I  still  would  wish 
to  have  her  make  trial  of  the  dieting  process,  which  I 
have  suggested  at  least  for  a  month  or  two.  With 
regard  to  her  discontinuing  her  music  lessons,  auci 


324  LTFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

Alice's  keeping  on  or  not,  I  leave  that  to  her  mother's 
decision,  as  she  knows  best  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case. 

"I  left  Burlington  last  Thursday  forenoon  in  the 
steamboat,  and  after  a  most  delightful  sail  down  Lake 
Champlain,  reached  St.  Johns,  in  Canada,  about  four 
P.  M.  I  there  took  the  cars  to  La  Praire,  whence  a 
steamboat  brought  us  across  the  St,  Lawrence,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  nine  miles,  to  the  city.  I  have  been 
very  busy  since  I  came  here  in  seeing  the  curiosities 
of  the  place.  Notre  Dame  Cathedral  is  one  of  them. 
It  is  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  wide,  with  a  portico  in  front  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  feet  high,  and  two  towers  two  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  feet  each.  I  ascended  one  of  them 
up  a  flight  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  steps,  and 
had  a  most  commanding  view  of  the  city,  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  distant  landscape.  The  building 
cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
One  tower  contains  a  set  of  ten  musical  bells,  and  the 
other  the  big  bell,  weighing  more  than  fifteen  tons.  I 
propose  to  start  for  Quebec  to-morrow  to  return  here  in 
a  few  days,  and  then  to  be  on  my  way  to  Niagara  Falls. 
With  the  exception  of  a  slight  cold,  my  health  is,  I 
hope,  still  gradually  improving.  Pray  for  me.  How 
can  we  venture  to  live  without  prayer  ?  Secure  an 
interest  in  Christ,  Study  to  obey  the  Bible.  Live  for 
Christ  and  to  do  good,  and  all  will  go  well  with  us. 
We  have  another  world  to  live  for  after  this  life.  Are 
we  prepared  for  it?  The  Lord  guide,  protect,  and 
bless  you  all. 

"Your  affectionate  father, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  325 

To  his  son  Thomas. 

"  Montreal,  Aug.  17th,  1846. 

"My  Dear  Thomas. — Your  welcome  letter  of  the 
8th,  with  the  too  few,  though  better  than  nothing,  lines 
from  Elizabeth,  reached  me  this  morning.  Why  did 
yon  not  tell  me  particularly  about  dear  Katy's  head- 
ache, and  Sophia's  health,  about  which  you  know  I 
am  so  anxious  to  hear  ?  I  should  have  been  glad,  too, 
to  know  about  each  of  the  family ;  where  they  are, 
how  they  do,  and  what  they  are  doing. 

"  I  have  delivered  a  public  lecture  on  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  deaf  and  dumb.  It  was  well  attended.  I 
contrived  to  make  the  lecture  interesting,  quite  so; 
some  of  my  friends  were  kind  enough  to  say,  by  play- 
ing a  good  deal  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  myself.  Should 
the  result  be  to  induce  the  people  here  to  start  an 
institution  for  their  deaf  mutes,  and  there  are  enough 
of  these  to  need  one,  I  shall  be  richly  paid  for  my 
labor.  I  find  deaf  and  dumb,  and  their  friends,  where- 
ever  I  go ;  and  have  the  privilege  and  happiness  of 
doing,  I  hope,  some  little  good  in  this  field  of  benevo- 
lent effort.  I  am  solicited,  just  now,  to  spend  a  day 
at  Brockville,  on  my  way  to  Niagara,  a  beautiful 
village  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

"  Do  all  the  good  you  can,  my  dear  son,  while  with 
the  family,  to  its  various  members ;  and  especially  pray 
for  and  try  to  promote  their  spiritual  good.  Immortal 
souls,  needing  a  sure  personal  interest  in  the  atoning 
blood  of  Christ,  to  whom  you  are  bound  by  the  ten- 
derest  ties,  surround  you.  What  are  you  doing  to 
lead  them  all  to  the  Savior  ?  Are  you  yourself  be- 
coming  more    and    more    prayerful   and    spiritually 


326  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

minded ;  forsaking  the  world,  which  is  the  great  bane 
of  Christian  progress,  and  against  which  the  Scriptures 
so  often  and  so  solemnly  warn  us  to  struggle  ?  Your 
privileges  are  great,  so  are  your  responsibilities.  It  is 
of  little  use  to  belong  to  the  church  if  we  have  not 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  do  not  find  ourselves  becom- 
ing more  and  more  like  him,  and  devoted  to  his  cause. 
Nay,  the  greater  will  be  the  condemnation. 

"  Much  love  to  dear  Elizabeth.  I  hope  she  has 
chosen  the  one  thing  needful.  I  often  pray  for  her 
and  yourself,  as  I  do  for  you  all.  Warmest  love  to 
your  dear  mother  and  to  all  the  children.  Very  kind 
remembrance  to  Sarah.  Tell  her,  from  me,  to  pray 
more  and  more  that  she  may  have  the  love  of  God  and 
of  Christ  in  her  soul.  Very  kind  regards  to  all  the 
neighbors,  and  all  friends. 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  «  T.  H.  G." 


To  his  son  Edward. 

"  Montreal,  August  18th,  1846. 

"  My  Dear  Son  Edward, — How  I  want  to  see 
you  and  go  out  with  you,  and  look  at  your  rabbits. 
Do  they  grow  well?  And  what  names  do  you 
give  them?  And  how  are  you  getting  along  in 
school  ?  Has  your  vacation  ended  ?  Give  my  af- 
fection and  regards  to  your  two  school-fellows.  Tell 
them  I  hope  they  will  be  good  boys,  mind  their 
teachers,  get  their  lessons  thoroughly,  and  be  kind 
to  each  other,  and  you  must  do  so  too.  Pray  to  God, 
my  dear  son,  to  help  you  to  do  so,  to  lead  you  to  be 
truly  sorry  for  your  sins,  to  trust  in  Christ  as  your 
Savior,  to  love  and  obey  God,  and  to   do  good  to 


REV.   TIIOS.    II.   GALLAUDET.  327 

others.  Do  you  help  your  dear  mother  all  you  can  ? 
Are  you  respectful,  kind,  and  obedient  to  her  ?  You 
must  write  me  a  long  letter,  on  a  whole  sheet  of 
paper,  so  that  it  shall  all  come  from  yourself,  and 
tell  me  all  the  news.  Tell  me  all  the  neighborhood 
news.  I  suppose  you  read,  or  have  read  to  you,  the 
letters  which  I  write  home ;  but  this  morning  I  have 
not  any  particular  news  to  tell  you.  This  is  not 
nearly  so  noisy  and  bustling  a  city  as  New  York. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  son,  and  make  you  a  faithful 
disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  may  you  do  much  good 
in  the  world. 

"  From  your  affectionate  father, 

"T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


To  his  Daughter. 

u  Kingston,  August  21st,  1846. 
"  My  Dear  Sophia, — My  last  letters  were  to  your 
mother  and  Edward,  from  Montreal.  I  am  now  on 
board  the  royal  mail  packet,  "Sovereign,"  6  o'clock 
p.  m.  The  sail  through  the  Bay  of  a  Thousand  Islands, 
from  Brockville  to  Kingston,  fifty-six  miles,  is  unique 
in  beauty.  The  St.  Lawrence  here,  is  studded  with 
these  islands,  some  of  them  miles  in  length,  and  others 
but  a  few  yards  in  circumference.  Most  of  them  have 
a  bold  rocky  shore,  and  are  covered  with  trees  of  a 
smaller  size,  and  of  various  kinds,  evergreens  being 
predominant.  Such  beautiful  bays  putting  up  into 
these  islands;  such  picturesque  groves,  with  an  oc- 
casional and  only  dwelling,  and  a  cultivated  spot 
round  it ;  once  in  a  while,  a  small  flock  of  sheep  ;  the 
landing  places  for   supplying  the    steamboats    with 


328  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

wood ;  the  circuitous  course  of  the  channel,  carrying 
you  among  the  islets,  and  often  almost  grazing  them, 
and  an  opening  at  times  which  discloses  the  American 
shore  in  the  distance,  some  four  or  five  miles  off,  fur- 
nishes an  ever  varjdng  scene  of  beauty,  which  I  shall 
never  forget.  How  often  I  wished  you  all  with  me, 
to  enjoy  it !  We  had  forty  or  fifty  emigrants  on 
board,  deck  passengers.  What  a  contrast  most  of 
these  afforded  to  the  loveliness  of  nature  which  sur- 
rounded us !  I  pitied  them,  and  longed  for  their 
elevation.  When  will  such  beings  be  educated? 
Where  are  the  friends  of  humanity  that  will  toil 
to  do  it  ? 

"  I  succeeded,  as  I  had  done  before,  in  getting  a 
comfortable  state  room  to  myself,  on  the  upper  deck, 
from  which,  with  the  window  open,  I  breathe  a  pure 
air ;  but  I  could  not  sleep  after  three  o'clock.  I  read 
a  portion  of  Scripture,  remembered  you  all  in  my 
supplications  at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  was  ready 
to  look  round  and  get  a  glimpse  of  Coburg,  on  the 
Canada  side.  We  stopped  soon  after  at  Fort  Hope, 
to  discharge  some  passengers. 

"  We  start  again :  the  passengers  are  just  beginning 
to  turn  out,  we  have  an  unusually  small  number. 
Among  them  is  an  interesting  young  married  couple, 
just  from  England,  with  whom  I  am  getting  a  little 
acquainted;  they  speak  the  purest  English.  You 
would  take  them,  from  their  pronunciation,  to  be  of 
our  sort  of  folks,  and  they  said  they  took  me  for  an 
Englishman;  so  you  see  you  and  I  speak  English 
pretty  well.  Don't  be  ashamed  of  your  bringing  up 
in  this  respect.  I  commend  you  all  to  the  guidance, 
and  blessing  of  God.     May  his  good  spirit  ever  dwell 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  329 

with  you  all.     Make  sure  of  a  personal  interest  in 
Christ.     Live  for  him. 

"Your  affectionate  father, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


To  his  son  Thomas. 

"  Hartford,  December  10th,  1847. 

"My  Dear  Thomas, — I  believe  you  and  Jane  both 
owe  me  a  letter.  Lead  her  to  write  me  soon  by  setting 
her  the  example.  It  is  rather  longer  than  usual  since 
we  have  seen  Wallace.  When  his  partner  was  here  a 
week  or  two  ago  he  was  quite  well.  Things  temporal 
seem  to  be  working  favorably  with  him.  Pray  for 
him  that  the  grace  of  God  may  bless  him  in  things 
spiritual.  Eddy  is  taking  lessons  in  a  writing  school. 
Your  mother  is  in  admirable  health  and  spirits.  Sarah 
is  well  and  much  pleased  with  our  new  brick  cistern. 
My  health  is  pretty  good  for  me  ;  better,  decidedly,  I 
think,  than  it  was  a  year  ago.  The  Lord  continues  to 
bless  us.  0,  that  we  might  love  him  more  and  serve 
him  better. 

"Do  you  know  that  I  pass  another  milestone  to-day 
in  the  journey  of  life  ?  I  am  now  sixty  years  old,  and 
must  begin  to  regard  myself  as  getting  to  be  quite 
among  the  old  men.  There  is  something  very  strange 
in  it.  Somehow  or  other,  I  can't  but  feel  myself  a  boy 
yet.  I  believe  it  is  owing  a  good  deal  to  my  having 
grown  up  in  the  place  where  I  was  once  really  a  boy, 
and  which  has  always  been  my  home. 

"But  other  and  more  serious  reflections  crowd  upon 
me.  Life  seems  to  me  short  as  a  dream.  Eternity 
seems  very,  very  near.    Am  I  prepared  for  it  ?    Have 


330  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

I  a  sure  interest  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ? 
Am  I  truly  a  sincere  Christian  ?  Do  I  show  my  pro- 
fessed belief  in  the  Savior  in  my  daily  conversation 
and  conduct  ?  Am  I  living  for  him  ?  Am  I  doing 
what  I  have  abundant  opportunity  for  doing  —  his 
will — and  striving  to  promote  his  cause  in  the  hearts 
of  others  ?  Serious  questions  these  for  us  all  to  ask 
ourselves.  What  does  conscience  reply  ?  The  Lord 
guide  and  bless  you  all. 

"Your  affectionate  father,  "T.  H.  G." 


To  the  same. 

"  Hartford,  May  9th,  1848. 

"My  Dear  Son, — "We  have  just  received  your  tele- 
graphic announcement  of  the  birth  of  a  daughter,  and 
that  all  are  well.  The  Lord  be  praised.  May  he  con- 
tinue his  goodness  to  his  handmaiden,  renew  her  health 
and  strength,  and  fill  her  and  your  heart  with  grati- 
tude for  his  kindness  towards  you.  The  Lord  grant 
that  this  young  immortal,  my  first  and  dear  grand- 
child, may  live  to  be  a  faithful  and  devoted  disciple  of 
Christ  and  an  heir  of  his  salvation.  Grod  bless  the 
dear  child  i  Your  mother,  Sophia,  and  the  whole 
group  have  given  a  name  to  your  daughter  by  accla- 
mation. They  say  it  must  and  shall  be  Rosina  Gal- 
laudet.  So  say  I.  We  all  send  love  to  you  all,  and 
rather  especially  just  now  to  your  wife.  Jane  must 
write  me  soon,  and  you  too,  owe  me  a  letter.  When 
you  write  on  the  receipt  of  this,  give  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  rose  bud. 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  «t.  H.  G." 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  331 

To  the  same. 

"  Hartford,  February  2nd,  1849. 

"  My  Dear  Sox, — I  am  glad  that  you  are  pleased 
■with  the  book  I  sent  you,  Dr.  Milnor's  Life.  He  was 
truly  a  good  man,  may  you  have  much  of  his  spirit. 
He  had  a  large,  as  well  as  a  pious  heart.  Those 
whom  the  Gospel  thus  makes  free  are  free  indeed. 
0,  that  we  may  all  have  more  of  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
and  live  in  him  and  for  him.  But,  how  much  remains 
in  us  that  is  opposed  to  this !  We  must  be  giving  up 
continually,  more  and  more  of  self  and  of  the  world, 
if  we  hope  to  make  progress  in  the  divine  life.  How 
mauy  allurements  and  temptations  beset  us  to  draw 
us  away  from  the  imitation  of  Christ !  May  God  give 
us  more  and  more  of  his  grace. 

11 1  hope  you  will  be  blessed  in  your  new  sphere 
of  duty  as  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school. 
May  God  enable  you  to  be  faithful  and  to  lead  your 
teachers  and  scholars  to  true  repentance  and  faith  in 
Christ,  showing  their  reality  by  the  fruits  of  a  holy 
life.  Among  you  all,  I  remember  your  and  my  dear 
little  Caroline,  in  my  private  devotions,  that  divine 
grace  may  lead  her  to  be  a  faithful  and  devoted  fol- 
lower of  Jesus  Christ,  that  her  life  may  be  prolonged, 
her  health  good,  and  she  prove  a  great  blessing  to  her 
mother  and  yourself.  Do  not  make  her  too  tender. 
I  do  not  believe  any  child  can  grow  up  in  our  climate 
with  a  good  constitution  and  sound  health,  without 
much  daily  exposure  to  the  open  air.  Can  you  not 
teach  her  the  sign  of  spectacles  for  her  grandfather, 
and  the  one  for  her  grandmother  ?  I  long  to  see  her 
once  more,  and  you  all  too.     William  just  tells  me 


332  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

that  you  owe  him  a  letter.  Do  write  him  soon  a  good 
long  one  and  a  good  one.  He  is  quite  communicative 
with  me  on  religious  subjects.  When  will  Christians 
in  domestic  and  social  life,  show  that  the  love  of 
Christ  reigns  in  their  hearts,  by  conversing  naturally, 
habitually,  and  readily  on  the  things  that  belong  to 
his  kingdom,  and  not,  as  is  now  so  much  the  case, 
on  the  things  merely  of  this  world.  How  sadly  is  our 
light  hid  under  a  bushel !  Give  my  love  to  your 
wife,  and  to  all  the  family  circle.  May  the  Lord  bless 
every  member  of  it,  especially  with  spiritual  blessings 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

"  How  soon  these  family  circles  will  be  broken  up ! 
One  link,  after  another,  of  the  chain  will  be  re- 
moved. Let  us  look  forward  to  these  separations 
serenely  and  hopefully.  Death  ought  to  be  welcomed 
by  Christians.  Once  more,  the  Lord  bless  you  and 
keep  you. 

"Your  affectionate  father,  «T.  H.  G." 


To  his  Daughter. 

"  Hartford,  March  7th,  1849. 

"  My  Dear  Daughter, — I  am  glad  to  hear  through 
your  husband's  last  letter,  how  much  Caroline  is  im- 
proving. I  long  to  see  her ;  and  as  soon  as  we  begin  to 
have  good  weather  and  pleasant  traveling,  I  shall 
claim  a  visit  from  her  and  yourself. 

"I  have  no  doubt,  that  Thomas  and  yourself  are 
teaching  your  little  daughter  the  duty  of  obedience 
on  her  part,  and  training  her  to  it.  To  neglect  to  do 
this,  as  some  too  indulgent  parents  do  neglect  it,  is 
doing  a  great  and  permanent  injury  to  the  child.     No 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  333 

being,  whether  young  or  old,  is  so  liable  to  discontent 
and  unhappiness,  as  the  one  who  has  not  learned 
promptly  and  cheerfully,  to  submit  to  rightful  au- 
thority. Make  a  child,  even  as  young  as  Caroline  is, 
obey  in  little  things,  if  you  desire  to  have  her  obey 
in  greater  things  as  she  grows  older.  I  think,  by  the 
grace  of  God  assisting  us,  for  which  we  should  pray 
devoutly  and  habitually,  that  a  child  even  as  young 
as  yours,  can  be  trained  to  have  kind  and  benevolent 
feelings,  and  to  make  little  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of 
promoting  the  happiness  of  others.  It  can  be  taught 
this  in  various  ways,  among  others,  by  being  led,  not 
forced  to  divide  its  good  things  with  those  around,  so 
as  at  length  to  do  it  readily  of  its  own  accord,  and 
with  manifest  satisfaction. 

"  A  little  child  like  Caroline,  should  be  led  to  see 
and  to  feel,  that  the  happiness  of  others  is  to  be  re- 
garded, as  well  as  her  own.  If  you  continually  treat 
her  so  as  to  lead  her  to  feel,  that  her  wants  and  wishes 
are  always  to  be  gratified,  and  that  father  and  mother, 
and  all  around  her,  have  only  one  thing  to  think  of 
and  to  do,  to  seek  in  all  possible  ways  to  make  her, 
as  it  were,  the  idol  of  their  love,  and  the  sole  object 
of  their  attentions,  how  can  she  help  feeling  that 
everybody  and  every  thing  must  yield  to  her,  and 
be  subservient  to  her  pleasure  ?  In  this  wray  the  child 
gets  stronger  and  stronger  habits  of  selfishness  and 
self-will. 

" '  My  father,'  I  seem  to  hear  you  say,  '  you  are 
giving  me  a  lecture  on  Education ! '  Well,  take  it 
for  just  what  it  is  worth.  May  the  grace  of  God  be 
with  you  and  your  husband  in  training  up  the  dear 
little  immortal  committed  by  him  to  your  care,  and 


334  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

may  the  same  grace  be  given  in  abundance  to   the 
child,  that  she  may  grow  up  in  the  image  of  Christ." 


To  his  son  William. 

"  Hartford,  January  7th,  1851. 

"My  Dear  Son, — My  general  health  is  quite  as 
good  as  when  your  mother  left  us,  and  through  the 
mercy  of  God  I  do  not  suffer  any  acute  pain.  My 
mind  is  quite  at  ease  with  regard  to  the  issue,  and  the 
very  obscurity  and  uncertainty  which  attends  my 
case,  only  seems  to  increase,  as  I  hope  my  trust  in  the 
Great  Physician  who  will  do  with  me  and  with  this 
poor  body  of  mine  as  he  deems  wisest  and  best.  If  I 
can  only  have  his  grace,  and  the  comforting  sense  of 
the  Savior's  presence  with  my  spirit,  through  the 
scenes  of  life  which  are  yet  before  me,  and  through 
the  hour  of  death  whenever  it  may  come,  my  most 
earnest  petition  will  be  answered.  Pray  for  me,  that 
I  may  have  these  consolations  and  hopes.  All  my 
hopes  center  simply  and  entirely  in  the  atoning  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  and  on  his  righteousness.  I  am  sure  I 
have  none  of  my  own  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
law  of  God.  Salvation  in  its  beginning,  progress, 
and  consummation,  is  all,  all  from  the  abounding 
grace  of  God,  through  Christ,  to  us  guilty  and  miser- 
able offenders.  To  that  grace  let  us  give  all  the  glory, 
and  endeavor  to  magnify  it  in  our  life  and  conduct, 
that  others  may  be  drawn  to  it  by  the  Savior. 
"  Your  affectionate  father, 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


REV.    TIIOS.    II     GALLAUDET.  335 

To  his  Granddaughter. 

"  Hartford,  Jan.  27th,  1851. 
"Dear  Caroline, — Uncle  Wallace  will  tell  you 
how  we  all  do.  We  have  six  canary  birds.  They 
sing  beautifully.  We  were  glad  to  see  Uncle  Ben. 
Do  you  go  to  his  shop  ?  Does  he  ever  give  you  any 
of  his  medicine  ?  Does  he  ever  give  you  any  sugar 
candy  ?  Which  do  you  like  best,  a  pretty  book  or 
some  sugar  candy?  I  wish  you  could  see  our  new 
pussy.  It  is  a  very  pretty  cat,  but  we  don't  like  to 
have  it  stay  long  in  the  parlor.  It  keeps  looking  up 
at  the  birds,  as  if  it  wanted  to  catch  and  eat  them. 
Katy  is  afraid  that  some  time,  Avhen  nobody  is  in  the 
room,  pussy  might  get  up  on  a  chair  and  jump  as  higli 
as  the  cage  and  hurt  or  frighten  the  birds.  Uncle 
Wallace  is  going  soon,  so  I  must  stop  writing.  We 
all  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  Caroline  and  to  you 
all.  Be  a  good  girl ;  love  God,  love  to  pray,  love 
papa  and  mamma,  and  do  what  they  tell  you.  Love 
all  and  be  kind  to  all. 

"  From  your  loving  grandpa,  «  T.  H.  G." 


To  the  same. 

"  Hartford,  April  7th,  1851. 
"My  Dear  Granddaughter, — That  was  a  very 
pretty  letter  you  sent  me  a  few  weeks  ago.  Yes,  we  shall 
all  be  glad  to  see  you  in  the  warm  weather,  and  Eose, 
and  Jackey  Horner,  and  your  mamma,  and  grandma. 
Sarah  shall  make  some  nice  cakes  for  }tou  and  Eose 
and  Jackey  Horner.  But  I  guess  you  will  have  to 
eat  all  Eose's  and  Jackey 's  cakes,  for  they  have  not 


336  LIFE   OF  REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET. 

got  any  teeth  to  eat  with,  so  you  shall  have  all  their 
cakes.  I  hear  you  have  been  sick,  but  that  now  you 
are  well.  Thank  God  that  you  are  well  again.  Thank 
him  for  the  many  good  things  he  gives  you,  and  that 
he  has  given  you  a  kind  papa  and  mamma  to  take  such 
good  care  of  you,  and  teach  you  about  God  and  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Bible,  and  how  to  be  a  good  girl.  Pray 
to  God  to  help  you  to  be  a  good  girl,  and  he  will  help 
you.  We  all  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you.  Tell 
mamma  to  give  you  three  kisses  for  me.  I  pray  God 
to  take  good  care  of  you,  and  bless  you,  and  help  you 
to  love  him  and  to  be  a  good  girl. 

11  Your  affectionate  grandfather, 

"  T.  H.  G." 


To  the  same. 

"  Dear  Granddaughter, — Grandpa  Gallaudet 
sends  you  a  little  book  for  a  Christmas  present. 
Father  will  read  it  to  you,  and  mother  make  signs 
about  it  to  you.  I  think  you  will  like  it.  Grandma 
Gallaudet  will  tell  you  all  about  us  here  at  Hartford. 
I  send  three  kisses  by  her  for  you ;  one  on  the  right 
cheek,  one  on  the  left  cheek,  and  one  on  the  lips.  Be 
a  good  girl ;  love  God,  love  Jesus  Christ,  love  to  pray. 
May  God  bless  you. 

"Your  affectionate  grandfather, 

"T.  H.  G." 


PART  THIRD. 


EMBRACING   THE   PERIOD   OF   HIS    CONNECTION" 

WITH   THE   RETREAT   FOR   THE   INSANE, 

TO  THE   CLOSE  OF   HIS   LIFE. 


PART    THIRD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Eight  years  had  now  elapsed  since  Mr.  Gallaudet 
left  the  Asylum,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  in- 
tended ever  to  connect  himself  with  any  other  public 
institution.  He  had,  as  we  have  seen,  declined  many 
advantageous  offers.  He  loved  retirement.  Hartford 
was  his  home,  where,  from  his  boyhood,  he  had  spent 
nearly  all  his  life,  and  to  which  he  was  strongly  bound 
by  the  cords  of  love.  He  had  enough  to  do,  and  just 
such  work  as  he  wanted.  He  could  write  books  for 
the  young,  and  in  many  ways  aid  the  cause  of  popular 
education,  which  was,  in  the  largest  and  best  sense, 
the  dearest  of  all  causes  to  his  ever  active  and 
philanthropic  mind. 

But,  though  he  was  not  to  leave  Hartford,  God  was 
opening  the  way  for  his  introduction  into  a  new  sj)here 
of  public  service,  for  which  he  had  been  qualifying 
him  all  the  time  of  his  connection  with  the  school  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb.  There,  for  twelve  years,  he  had 
been   studying  the  human  mind,  in  the  earliest  de- 

[339] 


340  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

velopments  of  its  normal  state.  He  had  been  clearing 
the  way  and  opening  the  door  for  the  emancipation 
of  the  imprisoned  faculties  of  deaf  mutes,  and  bring- 
ing them  into  joyful  fellowship  with  their  sorrowing 
friends,  and  teaching  them  the  relations  Avhich  they 
sustained  to  their  Creator,  of  whom,  before,  they  had 
no  knowledge. 

Now  he  was  to  be  brought  into  daily  contact  with 
minds  bewildered,  deranged,  cut  off  from  the  possi- 
bility of  enjoying  the  endearments  of  home,  and 
brought  together  where  they  might  have  all  the  cura- 
tive appliances  which  the  highest  skill,  the  largest 
experience,  and  the  warmest  Christian  sympathies  can 
furnish. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  was  to  go  from  his  retirement  into  an 
Insane  Hospital,  to  study  the  human  mind  in  this 
abnormal  state ;  to  be  the  religious  teacher,  friend  and 
adviser  of  scores  of  persons  suffering  under  almost 
every  variety  and  degree  of  mental  derangement.  But 
whence  ?  He  did  not  covet  the  service ;  he  did  not 
expect  to  be  called  to  it.  But  the  eyes  of  the  Mana- 
gers of  the  Insane  Hospital  at  Worcester  were  turned 
upon  him,  as  the  fittest  person  they  could  think  of, 
to  fill  the  difficult  and  important  place  of  chaplain. 
Accordingly,  a  correspondence  was  opened  with  him, 
through  Dr.  Woodward,  for  so  many  years  the  beloved 
and  distinguished  superintendent  of  that  institution. 
I  have  room  for  only  three  of  the  letters. 

Mr.  Woodward  to  Mr.  Gallaudet. 

"  Worcester,  February  16th,  1838. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — We  have  introduced  religious 
worship  into  our  hospital,  in  a  manner  quite  satis- 


KEV.    TUOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  341 

factory,  and  with  very  complete  success.  I  am  very 
desirous  to  have  you  come  out  and  preach  for  us  at 
some  time,  and  would  name  the  first  Sabbath  in 
March,  or  any  one  that  you  can  name  afterwards,  ex- 
cepting the  second  Sabbath  in  that  month,  on  which 
day  we  are  supplied.  I  can  offer  you  no  great  en- 
couragement, but  will  pay  all  your  expenses  of  the 
journey,  and  your  board  here  at  the  American  Tem- 
perance House  while  you  stay. 

i;  My  object  in  writing  to  you  now  is,  that  I  wish  to 
consult  you  on  the  subject  of  the  chaplaincy.  TTe 
are  hoping  to  have  a  regular  chaplain  next  summer. 
We  would  be  glad  to  procure  a  man  with  a  moderate 
salary,  to  preach  for  us  on  Sunday  ;  if  he  can  pursue 
some  other  employment  a  part  of  the  time,  it  will  be 
agreeable.  We  have  thought  of  you,  my  dear  sir,  as 
a  preacher  of  the  character  which  we  should  like,  and 
hoped  that  you  could  pursue  book  making  as  profit- 
ably in  our  pleasant  village  as  in  the  city  of  Hartford. 

"We  have  two  hundred  and  ten  patients,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  of  whom  attend  our  chapel,  which,  with 
our  help  and  my  family,  make  a  snug  congregation 
of  two  hundred.  TVe  have  a  beautiful  room,  of  forty- 
five  by  thirty-two  feet;  have  a  very  good  choir  of 
singers,  all  of  our  own  household,  and  perform  all  the 
parts  common  in  a  New  England  congregation  twice 
every  Sabbath. 

"  May  I  hear  from  you  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  ? 

"  I  am,  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  S.  B.  WOODWARD. 
"  Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet." 


342  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

The  same  to  the  same. 

"  Worcester,  May  15th,  1838. 
"  Rey.  T.  H.  Gallaudet  : 

"Dear  Sir, — Since  our  interview  in  March,  I  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  lay  the  subject  of  a  chaplain 
to  our  hospital  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  till  the 
last  week.  They  have  now  established  the  duties  of 
the  office,  and  I  am  able  to  lay  the  subject  more  dis- 
tinctly before  you..  They  are,  also,  unanimously  in 
favor  of  your  appointment,  and  expressed,  individu- 
ally and  collectively,  their  desire  that  we  may  secure 
your  services. 

"  At  present,  they  make  it  the  duty  of  the  chaplain 
to  attend  two  religious  services  on  the  Sabbath ;  to 
attend  the  funerals  of  such  inmates  as  die  and  are 
buried  at  the  hospital,  and  such  other  members  of  the 
family  as  shall  die  in  the  institution,  if  requested ;  and 
to  visit,  at  the  request  of  the  superintendent,  such 
individuals  as,  in  his  opinion,  "will  be  benefited  by 
religious  counsel,  and  to  exchange  with  the  brethren 
of  the  clergy,  and  admit  of  such  aid  in  the  desk  as,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  superintendent,  will  be  desirable. 

"  At  the  request  of  the  Board,  I  write  you  officially, 
to  inquire  of  you  if  you  will  take  the  subject  into 
consideration,  and  write  me  if  you  can  be  induced  to 
take  the  place,  and  what  pecuniary  inducement  you 
will  require  to  allow  of  your  coming  to  our  aid.  I 
wish  you  would  be  perfectly  frank  on  the  subject. 
"We  are  all  desirous  that  you  should  be  our  chaplain. 
Our  household,  in  particular,  are  deeply  engaged  on 
the  subject,  and,  if  it  were  left  with  the  Board  of 
Trustees  to  decide,  I  have  no  doubt  they  would  make 


REV.    THOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  343 

a  liberal  appropriation.  The  amount  to  be  paid  as 
salary  must,  however,  be  subject  to  the  revision  and 
sanction  of  the  Governor  and  Council.  The  Trustees 
wish  not  to  fix  the  salary  till  they  know  who  shall  be 
the  man.  Should  you  not  be  able  to  come  on  imme- 
diately it  will  make  no  difference.  We  will  secure 
temporary  aid  till  you  can.  I  need  not  say  to  you, 
that  myself  and  family  feel  the  deepest  interest  in 
securing  your  services  here  as  a  chaplain,  but  also  as 
a  teacher  for  our  daughters,  if  you  should  adopt  the 
plan  of  opening  a  school  for  misses,  of  greater  or  less 
age. 

"  I  am  happy  to  inform  you,  that  we  go  on  success- 
fully with  our  religious  worship ;  and  I  have  now  no 
hesitation  in  saying,  that  we  shall  do  so,  if  we  com- 
mence aright  with  our  permanent  chaplaincy.  The 
office  is  created  without  limit  as  to  time,  like  all  of  the 
others,  and  may  be  considered  as  permanent  as  that 
of  a  settlement  over  any  people. 

"Your  reply  to  this  I  will  consider  strictly  confi- 
dential, if  you  desire  it,  but  sincerely  hope  it  will  be 
encouraging,  and  the  basis  of  a  final  arrangement  that 
will  be  beneficial  in  the  highest  degree  to  us,  and  not 
unfavorable  to  yourself. 

"Yours  truly,  «S.  B.  WOODWAKD." 


Dr.  Gallaadet  to  Dr.  S.  B.  Woodward. 

"  Hartford,  July  6th,  1838. 
mMy  Dear  Sir, — Three  weeks  have  not  yet  elapsed 
since  I  last  saw  you.     I  had  hoped,  however,  even  be- 
fore this  time,   to  give  an  answer  to  the  invitation 
which  the  trustees  of  your  institution  had  been  so 


344  LIFE   AND   LABOBS   OF 

kind  as  to  make,  to  have  me  occupy  in  it  the  situation 
of  Chaplain.  Yerj  peculiar  circumstances  have  pre- 
vented me  from  doing  so. 

"  As  I  informed  you,  before  my  last  visit  to  Wor- 
cester, I  had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  the  newly 
organized  Board  of  Education  in  this  State ;  and,  al- 
though I  could  not,  at  that  time,  consider  it  my  duty 
to  accept  of  this  appointment,  I  had  agreed  to  postpone 
an  absolute  decision  till  my  return  and  consultation 
with  a  Committee  of  the  Board.  The  absence  from 
Hartford  of  the  acting  member  of  the  Committee  de- 
layed the  decision  a  week,  when  I  declined  the  ap- 
pointment. 

"  In  the  midst  of  these  deliberations,  and  wholly 
unexpected  to  me,  the  appointment  of  Chaplain  to 
the  Eetreat  for  the  Insane  in  this  city,  was  proposed 
for  my  consideration  by  the  Board  of  Managers,  about 
a  week  since.  This  placed  me  in  a  new  and  very  try- 
ing position.  To  make  it  the  more  so,  the  Committee 
of  the  Board  of  Education  proposed,  that  should  I 
become  Chaplain  to  the  Retreat,  and  have  any  spare 
time,  they  would  be  glad  to  have  my  services  in  con- 
nection with  their  operations,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to 
call  me  very  little  from  home,  a  considerable  absence 
from  which,  during  the  year,  was  one  of  my  principal 
objections  to  becoming  the  Secretary  of  the  Board.  I 
found,  on  conferring  with  Dr.  Fuller,  that  it  was  his 
wish,  at  present,  to  have  but  one  religious  exercise  on 
the  Sabbath,  prayers  once  a  day,  and  such  intercourse 
with  the  patients  as  might  be  deemed  judicious;  so 
that  I  could  devote  considerable  time  to  the  business 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  to  one  or  two  other 
sources  of  support  which  promise  well  if  I  remain  here. 


RBV.   TTIOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  3-15 

"  In  addition  to  this,  you  can  readily  conceive  and 
appreciate  other  and  powerful  motives  that  would  influ- 
ence me  to  continue  in  Hartford.  I  have  lived  here 
forty  years  ;  I  have  among  our  citizens  many  old  and 
long- tried  friends;  my  wife  finds  here  a  place  of 
worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  a  circle  of  intimate  ac- 
quaintance who  know  her  language ;  our  plans  of  liv- 
ing and  of  economizing  are  adjusted  to  an  experienced 
state  of  things ;  a  school  taught  in  my  family,  and 
which  all  my  children  attend,  excepting  one,  has  been 
for  years  in  successful  operation,  and  can  be  enlarged 
to  any  extent ;  and  here  we  are  very  near  an  aged 
mother  "and  deaf  and  dumb  sister  of  my  wife,  and  her 
near  relations.  Some  of  these  considerations,  I  know, 
are  not  to  be  put  in  the  scale  as  weighing  much 
against  the  great  objects  of  benevolent  effort  in  im- 
portant spheres  of  duty ;  but  they  have  a  proper 
place,  where  two,  and  it  may  be,  nearly  equally  im- 
portant spheres  of  duty  present  themselves.  Still  I 
was  determined  to  say  or  do  nothing  to  forward 
the  plan  of  my  remaining  here,  unless  the  whole 
thing  should  move  easily,  and  without  any  urgency 
on  the  part  of  my  friends.  I  knew — for  the  Man- 
agers of  the  Eetreat  had  told  me  so — that  what 
they  could  offer  from  the  funds  of  the  Institution 
would  be  small ;  but  they  said  a  few  individuals  were 
ready  to  make  up  the  deficiency.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, I  consented  to  have  the  matter  come  be- 
fore the  Board  of  Directors,  requesting  my  friends,  as 
a  personal  favor,  to  let  the  thing  take  its  own  free 
course,  and  if  any,  the  least  difficulties  should  pre- 
sent themselves,  to  drop  it  all  at  once  ;  in  which  case 
I  would  immediately  let  the  Trustees  of  the  Institu- 
15* 


846  LIFE    AND   LABORS   OF 

lion  at  Worcester  know  on  what  terms  I  wonld  be 
willing  to  go  there.  The  Directors  met  a  few  days 
since,  and  proposed  five  hundred  dollars  from  the  funds 
of  the  Institution,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  from  other 
sources,  a  year,  payable  to  me  by  the  Treasurer,  and 
made  secure  for  five  years,  if  I  continue  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  the  office  acceptably;  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  being  offered  me  as  a  salary  for 
services  which  will  occupy  about  one  half  of  my  time. 
I  concluded  to  accept  the  appointment.  I  have  not 
made  the  least  effort  to  bring  about  this  result.  In- 
deed, I  was  in  a  state  of  most  perplexing,  and  I  may 
say  distressing,  hesitancy  to  know  where  my  duty 
lay.  Had  there  been  no  such  unsought  invitation  to 
me  to  stay  here,  or  after  being  made,  had  anything 
occurred  to  arrest,  temporarily,  the  course  of  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Institution  or  my  friends,  towards 
its  consummation,  I  should  promptly  and  heartily  have 
taken  the  steps  to  lead  me  to  Worcester,  if  our  views, 
with  regard  to  compensation,  ha  harmonized. 

"Providence  has  ordered  it  otherwise,  and  being 
guided  as  I  have  been,  and  taking  the  course  which  I 
have,  I  beg  you  particularly,  and  the  gentlemen  com- 
prising your  Board  of  Trustees,  and  Mr.  Foster,  and 
any  other  friends,  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the 
marks  of  confidence  and  kindness  which  have  been 
shown  me  in  our  late  negotiations,  and  my  earnest 
wishes  and  prayers  for  the  prosperity  of  the  noble 
Institution  which  you  have  been  instrumental  in  rais- 
ing to  such  a  high  degree  of  usefulness,  and  of  honor- 
able character  in  our  land.  In  my  humble  field  of 
effort  here,  I  shall  aspire  to  be  a  fellow -laborer  of 
yours  in  your  extensive  sphere  of  benevolent  exertions, 


REV.    TITOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  347 

and  shall  hope,  in  the  particular  department  in  which 
I  shall  be  called  to  act,  to  receive  no  small  amount  of 
aid  from  the  suggestions  which  I  have  already  derived 
from  the  interesting  interviews  I  have  enjoyed  with 
you,  and  from  the  future  results  of  your  observation 
and  experience,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be  willing 
to  impart.  I  shall  hope  to  hear  soon  from  you  in  re- 
ply; and  in  the  meanwhile,  present  my  very  kind 
regards  to  Mrs.  W.  and  your  family,  to  Dr.  Chandler, 
Deacon  Ellis,  and  other  friends,  both  in  and  out  of 
the  Institution.  You  hardly  know,  my  dear  sir,  the 
conflict  of  feelings  through  which  I  have  passed. 
ISTever  have  I  been  called  to  a  similar  one  in  my  life. 
Everything  inviting  at  Worcester,  on  the  one  hand, 
{cooperating  with  yourself  in  a  noble  department  of 
benevolence,  the  most  important  feature  of  the  scene,) 
and  Hartford,  with  its  sphere  of  duty,  and  some  pecu- 
liar advantages,  and  a  thousand  endearing  associations, 
on  the  other.  The  Lord  guide  and  bless  you  and 
yours.  "  Yours  truly." 

Mr.  Gallaudet's  correspondence  with  the  Directors 
of  the  Eetreat  for  the  Insane  at  Hartford,  is  briefly  re- 
corded by  himself  in  his  diary. 

"  June  28th. — Messrs.  Charles  Sheldon  and  James 
"Ward,  two  of  the  three  Managers  of  the  Eetreat  for 
the  Insane  in  Hartford,  proposed  for  my  consideration 
the  becoming  Chaplain  of  that  Institution.  This  was 
wholly  unexpected  to  me,  and  unsolicited  on  my 
part.  The  next  morning  I  had  a  conversation  with 
Dr.  Fuller,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Eetreat,  on  the 
subject.     My  mind  was  in  great  perplexity.     I  sought 


348  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

divine  direction,  and  think  that  I  desired  simply  to 
ascertain  the  path  of  dnty. 

"  Monday,  July  2d. — I  addressed  the  following  note 
to  the  Managers  of  the  Retreat. 

To  the  Managers  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane. 

"  Gentlemen, — Since  my  conversation  with  you  on 
Thursday  last,  I  have  made  the  subject  which  you  pro- 
posed, matter  of  deliberate  consideration,  and  have 
come  to  the  following  result :  I  am  willing  to  accept 
of  the  appointment  of  Chaplain  to  the  Retreat,  if  I  can 
receive  an  adequate  compensation,  and  on  certain  con- 
ditions. 

"  The  duties,  I  suppose,  will  involve  the  religious 
exercises  on  the  Sabbath,  in  preparing  for  which,  es- 
pecially the  discourses,  much  study  and  care  will  be 
necessary ;  the  attending  daily  prayers ;  such  inter- 
course with  the  patients  as  the  Superintendent  may 
deem  advisable ;  the  procuring  of  that  information 
with  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  insane  mind,  by 
reading  and  otherwise,  which  it  is  indispensable  for  an 
intelligent  and  judicious  chaplain  to  possess,  together 
with  portions  of  time  incidentally  devoted  to  the  gene- 
ral interests  of  the  Institution.  These  duties  will  oc- 
cupy, at  least,  one  half  of  my  time  ;  and  such  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Superintendent.  The  compensation 
can  be  adjusted  accordingly. 

"In  ascertaining  what  this  compensation  ought  to 
be,  it  is  but  justice  to  myself  to  state,  that  I  have  a 
large  family  of  children,  all  of  them  in  the  progress  of 
education,  and  the  expense  attending  this  continually 
increasing;  that  I  need  the  means  of  making  a  short 
excursion    once   a  year;    something  to   add  a  little 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  819 

to  my  librar}r,  which  is  to  constitute  one  essential 
means  of  my  improvement;  and  something  to  be  laid 
up  for  future  exigencies.  Taking  these  things  into 
consideration,  would  it  be  deemed  unreasonable  that 
I  should  aim,  from  the  salary  allowed  me  by  the  Ke- 
treat,  and  the  other  means  that  may  be  within  my 
reach,  to  secure  an  income  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
annually  ?  It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  in  as- 
suming the  responsibility  of  Chaplain  to  the  Retreat, 
and  making  the  duties  of  that  office  the  leading  object 
of  thought  and  effort,  it  may  not  always  be  practicable 
to  obtain  one  half  of  my  income  from  other  sources. 

"  Four  weeks  of  absence  during  the  year,  at  some 
convenient  season  or  seasons,  for  the  purposes  of  re- 
laxation for  myself  and  family,  is  another  condition 
which  I  should  deem  essential. 

"  Accept  my  thanks,  gentlemen,  for  this  mark  of 
your  confidence  in  thinking  of  me  as  a  suitable  person 
to  discharge  the  very  responsible  duties  of  Chaplain 
to  the  Retreat.  Whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  our 
negotiation,  my  earnest  wishes  are,  that  it  may  be  so 
ordered  by  a  kind  Providence  as  to  promote  "the  best 
interests  of  the  important  Institution,  the  concerns  of 
which  are  entrusted  to  your  management. 


UI  am,  &c, 


T.  H.  GALLAUDET." 


"July  2d,  1838.— The  Directors  of  the  Retreat  held 
a  meeting,  and  my  communication  was  laid  before 
them.     They  adopted  the  following  Resolution : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  Managers  be  authorized  to 
offer  Mr.  Gallaudet  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
per  annum,  for  five  years,  as  Chaplain  to  the  Retreat, 


350  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

lie  discharging  the  duties  of  his  situation  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  Directors.' 

"  July  6th. — I  called  on  Dr.  Fuller  to  inform  him 
that  I  was  ready  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  office. 
He  said,  a  Committee  of  the  Directors,  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  would,  in  a  few  days,  have  the  By-laws 
prepared,  respecting  the  duties  of  the  chaplain,  and 
then  they  would  be  ready  to  have  me  commence  the 
discharge  of  those  duties. 

"In  all  this  affair,  I  humbly  hope,  that  I  have  acted 
from  a  sense  of  duty.  I  have  continually  prayed  to 
God  for  his  guidance.  0 1  may  the  result  be  for  the 
promotion  of  his  glory,  the  advancement  of  the  Ee- 
deemer's  kingdom,  and  the  best  good  of  my  fellow- 
men.     I  ask  these  for  Christ's  sake." 

Mr.  Grallaudet  kept  a  diary  of  his  labors  in  the  Ee- 
treat,  up  to  his  last  sickness,  from  which  I  have  taken 
the  following  copious  and  exceedingly  interesting  ex- 
tracts. They  show  the  man  and  his  eminent  fitness 
for  the  place  ;  his  wisdom,  his  conscientiousness,  his 
piety,  his  quick  and  lively  sympathies  with  the 
patients  in  their  unhappy  condition,  and  his  remark- 
able skill  as  a  spiritual  physician  in  "the  house  of 
mercy."  It  will  be  seen,  too,  that  admirable  as  the 
curative  arrangements  and  appliances  were,  he  was 
all  the  while  studying  how  they  might  be  increased 
and  made  perfect.  As  the  results  of  his  daily  observa- 
tion and  reflections,  his  diary  abounds  with  suggestions, 
such  as  were  at  the  same  time  occurring  to  the  Su- 
perintendent also,  and  which  have,  one  after  another, 
"been  carried  out  by  the  Directors. 

"Sabbath,  July  loth,  1838.— This  day  at  3  P.  M.  I 


REV.    TIIOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  351 

commenced  my  labors  as  Chaplain  to  the  Eetreat  for 
the  Insane  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  by  conducting  religious 
s  Trice  there,  and  preaching  my  introductory  sermon. 
Out  of  ninety,  the  whole  number  of  patients,  eighty 
attended.  The  assembly,  in  all,  consisted  of  one  hun- 
dred. The  Key.  Mr.  Spencer  and  the  Key.  Mr.  Rich, 
two  of  the  patients,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Fuller,  sat  on 
my  right  and  left.  One  of  the  female  patients,  on  ac- 
count of  her  incessant,  loud  talking,  just  before  the 
exercises  began,  was  led  to  her  room.  All  the  rest 
were  quiet,  and  conducted  themselves  with  great  pro- 
priety, excepting  a  very  little  chattering  from  a  male 
patient,  which,  however,  was  soon  stopped.  0,  for 
a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God.  and  the  advancement 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  in  this  my  new  sphere  of 
duty !  0  God,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit  purify  my  mo- 
tives, and  guide  and  encourage  me  in  my  work,  for 
Christ's  sake. 

'•July  23d. — 'While  conversing  with  three  or  four 
of  the  patients,  one  of  them  observed,  that  there  were 
a  great  many  crazy  folks  and  fools  all  around  us. 
'  Yes.'  says  another,  '  and  it  takes  a  very  wise  man  to 
find  out  that  he  is  a  fool.' 

"  July  24th. — I  received,  a  day  or  two  since,  a  most 
kind  letter  from  Dr.  Woodward,  in  reply  to  the  one  I 
wrote  him,  declining  the  appointment  of  Chaplain  to 
the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Worcester. 

"July  26th. — Had  some  conversation  with  Dr. 
Hawley  and  Mr.  Buel  about  a  library  for  the  patients. 
Told  them  if  Dr.  Fuller  would  give  his  approbation, 
one  might  easily  be  obtained.  Suggested  the  advant- 
age of  a  collection  of  suitable  prints  and  pictures. 

"  Aug.  8th. — Many  visitors,  who  stayed  to  prayers  ; 


352  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

the  patients  still.  Mrs.  H.  L.  Ellsworth  reminded  me 
of  the  fact,  which  I  had  forgotten,  that  at  their  house, 
(the  D  wight-house  in  Prospect-street,)  her  husband 
being  one  of  the  building  committee,  I  first  suggested 
giving  the  name  of  '  Eetreat '  to  the  institution.  Mrs. 
Dr.  Fuller  told  me  how  much  she  was  struck  with  the 
peculiar  and  reverential  appearance,  as  she  sat  at  the 
window  observing  him  unnoticed,  of  Capt.  Vertres,  one 
of  the  patients,  in  the  yard,  approaching  the  building 
and  listening  to  the  prayer. 

"  Aug.  11th. — Have  nearly  succeeded  in  teaching 
young  Lannos,  from  Trinidad,  the  alphabet  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb,  on  the  fingers.  He  also  learns  signs  very 
quickly.  Mr.  L.  observed  that  if  he  had  not  neg- 
lected prayer,  and  forgotten  his  duty  to  God,  he  would 
not  have  been  deranged.  He  lamented  his  past  miscon- 
duct, and  the  grief  he  had  brought  on  his  aged  father, 
and  on  his  wife,  and  declared  if  he  were  ever  permitted 
to  return  to  Lis  family,  he  hoped  he  should  be  a  very 
different  man. 

"  Aug.  15th. — Mr.  L.r after  prayers,  began  to  speak  to 
Dr.  Fuller  of  his  past  misconduct  being  the  cause  of 
his  derangement ;  but  the  doctor  checked  him,  saying 
that  he  was  not  at  all  in  fault,  it  was  all  disease,  and 
out  of  his  power  to  control,  and  that  he  was  not  in  the 
least  to  blame  for  it. 

"  Aug.  19th,  Sabbath. — Called  on  my  way  home  to 
see  Mrs.  H.,  who  has  a  husband  in  the  Eetreat,  and 
had  from  her  a  particular  account  of  his  case.  (I  am 
becoming  more  and  more  convinced  that  a  judicious 
physical  and  religious  education,  on  the  simple  prin- 
ciples of  the  Gospel,  with  early  piety,  constitutes  the 
best  security  against  mental  alienation,  and  if  it  must 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  353 

come,  affords  the  greatest  facilities  for  the  use  of  those 
means  which,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  will  result  in 
restoration.)  Mr.  W.  rode  home  with  me  part  of  the 
way.  He  thought  my  confession  of  sin,  in  prayer,  was 
too  strong  for  the  insane,  that  it  might  disturb  and 
agitate  them.  This  involves  a  point  of  deep  interest 
— to  what  extent  the  simple  truths  of  the  Gospel  may 
be  brought  out,  in  the  religious  exercise  in  the  Ketreat, 
with  benefit  to  the  patients.  May  the  Spirit  of  Truth 
and  Grace  direct  me  in  this  matter.  My  impression 
now  is,  that  the  best  course  is,  in  a  calm  and  kind 
manner,  to  bring  out  these  truths,  and  to  lead  the  insane 
to  feel,  so  far  as  they  have  reason  left,  that  Christ,  in 
his  mediatorial  character,  is  their  great  hope;  that  he  is 
ready  to  sympathize  with  them  in  their  affliction,  and 
to  save  them  as  sinners.  But  the  manner  of  doing  this 
must  be  looked  to. 

"Aug.  20th. — Inquired  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buel,  Dr. 
Hawley,  and  Miss  Clark,  whether  it  had  come  to  their 
knowledge,  that  anything  which  I  had  said  in  prayer, 
or  preaching,  at  the  religious  exercises,  had  produced 
anj'  excitement  or  agitation  among  the  patients.  They 
said  they  knew  of  no  such  effect. 

"  Aug.  22d.— Eode  in  with  Dr.  Fuller.  Asked  him 
which  was  the  best  work  on  insanity.  He  said  he 
knew  of  no  good  one.  He  differs  from  Dr.  Todd  in 
thinking  that  the  insane  are  not  to  be  reasoned  with, 
or  persuaded  out  of  their  mental  delusions. 

"  Aug.  27th. — Commenced  singing  at  prayers.  One 
of  the  female  patients  very  noisy  and  carried  out. 
Before  prayers,  had  a  very  pleasant  conversation  in 
the  physician's  room,  with  the  Eev.  Mr.  S.  and  Mr.  Y., 
the  latter  of  whom  is  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church. 


354  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

Rev.  Mr.  S.,  in  the  course  of  it,  replied  to  an  inquiry 
which  I  made  of  him  respecting  the  meaning  of  the 
expression  in  the  3d  chap,  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  '  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  water,'  &c,  by  saying  that  it 
doubtless  referred  to  baptism. 

"Aug.  29th. — Eev.  TV.  S.  prayed  at  the  evening 
service.  He  is  a  convalescent  patient.  His  prayer 
was  a  very  appropriate  one. 

"  Sept.  1st. — No  singing.  All  composed.  Before 
prayers,  had  some  conversation  with  Mrs.  W.,  and  told 
her  how  much  good  she  might  be  instrumental  of  do- 
ing in  the  Retreat.  After  prayers,  had  some  conver- 
sation with  Miss  Gilbert,  one  of  the  nurses,  on  the 
importance  of  endeavoring  to  bring  the  attendants 
under  a  religious  influence.  0!  that  God  would 
open  the  way  for  this  ! 

"  Sept.  12th. — Just  before  prayers,  Mr.  D.,  a  patient 
from  Maryland,  requested  of  Dr.  Fuller  and  nryself, 
that  he  might  make  the  prayer,  saying  that  he  was  a 
professor  of  religion  in  the  Methodist  church,  and 
would  pray  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  acceptable.  I 
referred  the  matter  to  Dr.  Fuller.  Jle  said  we  would 
take  a  day  to  think  of  it.  Mr.  D.  urged  his  request. 
I  observed  that  none  but  clergymen  had  been  invited 
to  pray,  and  that  the  precedent  would  be  an  unhappy 
one,  as  there  were  other  patients  who  were  professors 
of  religion,  and  might  expect  to  be  invited  also.  Mr. 
D.  said  none  of  them  would  make  the  request.  I  again 
referred  the  matter  to  Dr.  Fuller,  observing  that  he 
must  take  the  responsibility ;  if  he  thought  it  best,  I 
would  invite  Mr.  D.  He  told  Mr.  D.  the  kind  of 
prayer  which  would  be  desirable,  and  said  if  I  would 
take  half  the  responsibility,  he  would  consent.     Under 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  355 

the  circumstances,  I  thought  it  best  to  do  so,  and  in- 
vited Mr.  D.  to  make  the  prayer.  We  sang,  and  I 
read  a  portion  of  Scripture,  and  Mr.  D.  prayed.  His 
prayer  was  very  short.  With  my  present  views,  I 
shall  object,  hereafter,  to  asking  any  one  to  pray 
situated  as  Mr.  D.  is. 

"Sept.  30th,  Sabbath. — Large  number  of  visitors. 
Patients  composed,  excepting  McEwen,  the  deaf  and 
dumb  young  man,  who  tittered  considerably.  Preached 
on  the  subject  of  prayer.  After  service,  Colonel  W. 
told  me  it  was  the  best  sermon  which  he  had  heard 
me  preach.  (0  God,  open  the  way  before  me  for 
more  and  more  usefulness  among  the  insane.  Give 
me  more  simple  and  self-denying  principles  of  benevo- 
lent action  in  this  sphere  of  duty.  Encourage  me  in 
it  by  the  tokens  of  thy  approbation,  and  by  permitting 
me  to  see  some  fruits  of  my  labors.) 

"  Oct.  loth. — Interesting  conversation  Avith  Mr.  H. 
(who  is  a  member  of  the  Free  Church)  before  prayers. 
He  said  he  felt  sorry  for  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
expressed  himself  on  the  Sabbath,  in  the  way  of  find- 
ing fault  with  his  being  detained  in  the  Retreat,  and 
charging  Dr.  Fuller  and  others  with  being  unjust  and 
cruel  towards  him.  He  observed  that  the  cases  of 
derangement,  accompanied  with  religious  excitement, 
seemed  to  be  increasing ;  and  he  believed  that,  in 
many  cases,  if  Christian  friends  would  be  faithful  in 
doing  their  duty,  they  would  not  occur.  He  thought 
a  little  timely  attention  and  sympathy,  on  the  part 
of  his  Christian  brethren  towards  him,  when  his  mind 
first  began  to  be  disturbed,  would  have  saved  him 
from  coming  to  the  Retreat. 

"Xov.  14th. — Had  a  very  interesting  religious  com 


356  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 

versation  with  Mr.  0.,  who  lost  his  mother  lately,  a 
pious  woman.  He  seems  to  be  in  a  very  desirable 
state  of  mind ;  says  he  prays  daily — prays  for  power 
to  overcome  his  sins ;  prays  for  submission  to  the  will 
of  God,  and  for  his  holy  spirit ;  and  loves  to  read  his 
Bible. 

"  Nov.  20th. — Had  some  conversation  with  Mr.  S.  in 
the  Retreat,  about  the  troubles  in  Canada.  Observed 
to  him,  that  I  hoped  the  time  would  come  when  all 
men  would  be  at  peace  with  each  other.  '  Do  you 
think,'  said  he,  'that  the  devil  will  ever  become  the 
friend  of  the  Almighty?'  'I  do  not,'  I  replied. 
1  Well,'  he  added,  l  when  that  happens,  men  will  be 
at  peace  with  each  other.'  Went  over  the  male  wing 
with  Dr.  Fuller,  and  had  a  little  religious  conversation 
with  a  few  of  the  patients.  0,  for  much  grace,  that, 
as  I  have  more  and  more  intercourse  with  the  patients 
and  attendants,  and  all  connected  with  the  Retreat, 
and  become  more  familiar  with  them,  I  may  be  enabled 
to  preserve  the  unblameable  consistency,  prudence  and 
Christ-like  purity  of  character  and  conduct,  that 
becomes  my  responsible  situation.  0  Lord,  shed 
down  upon  me  continually  thy  holy  spirit,  that  I  may 
do  this,  and  in  all  my  conversation  and  deportment 
aim  to  promote  the  best  good,  and  especially  the 
spiritual  good,  of  all  the  inmates  of  the  institution  ! 

"  Nov.  23d. — Had  a  pleasant  conversation  with  Mr. 
Hill.  S.  exclaimed,  '  How  conscience  can  trouble  us. 
I  think  of  my  conduct  towards  my  parents.  I  hope 
they  are  in  heaven.'     I  pointed  him  to  the  Savior. 

"  Nov.  29th,  (Thanksgiving  day.) — Attended  divine 
service  in  the  afternoon,  at  4  o'clock,  and  preached  a 
sermon  written  expressly  for  the  occasion.     After  ser- 


REV.   TTIOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  357 

vice,  had  a  very  interesting  religious  conversation  with 
Mr.  L.  and  "Mr.  S.  The  latter  tells  me  that  his  mind 
is  greatly  occupied  with  religious  subjects.  He  spoke 
most  emphatically  of  the  need  of  repentance. 

"Dec.  5th. — Mrs.  Whittelsey  died  about  sundown. 
Her  friends  tell  me  that  she  appeared  rational  towards 
the  closing  scene.  On  being  asked  if  she  knew  in 
whom  she  believed,  she  said,  '  Yes,  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.'  She  has  sustained  an  exemplary  Christian 
character,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  she 
has  made  a  happy  exchange  of  worlds. 

"Dec.  18th. — Visited  both  the  wings,  in  company 
with  Dr.  Fuller  and  Mrs.  Sigourney.  Had,  with  a 
few  of  the  patients,  some  religious  conversation.  The 
interview  with  Mr.  B.  was  a  very  affecting  one.  He 
asked  me  to  pray  for  him.  He  said  the  adversary  had 
got  entire  possession  of  him.  Soon  after  he  was  in- 
troduced to  Mrs.  Sigourney,  he  said  he  must  ask  her 
pardon  for  sending  her  the  piece  of  poetry  which  he 
did  for  the  Eeligious  Souvenir.  '  Will  any  one  shed 
a  tear  for  me?'  he  exclaimed.  'Yes,'  said  Dr.  Fuller, 
'you  have  the  prayers  and  the  tears  of  many.'  '01' 
said  B.  '  I  cannot  weep  now ;  I  could  once.  I  could 
shed  tears  for  the  distressed.  It  was  my  mother's 
weakness  in  me.  Is  this  a  visit  of  sympathy  or  not  ? ' 
On  being  told  that  it  was,  he  said,  'I  thank  you 
much.'  He  asked  permission  to  attend  prayers,  which 
he  did,  and  was  perfectly  quiet.  Eev.  Mr.  S.,  one 
of  the  patients,  praj^ed. 

"  Dec.  20th. — After  prayers,  had  a  long  interview 
with  Mr.  L.  and  Mr.  B.,  who  were  together.  Mr.  L. 
considered  himself  as  without  piety,  and  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  Gospel   salvation.     He  complained  of 


358  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

having  no  feeling  on  religions  subjects ;  of  trying  to 
pray,  and  not  being  able  to  clo  it.  I  tried  to  console 
him,  but  without  effect.  I  told  him  of  Cow  per,  of 
whose  piety  there  is  satisfactory  evidence,  and  yet 
who  suffered  so  much  from  despondency  and  down- 
right despair.  But  he  replied  that  it  was  by  no  means 
certain  that  Cowper  was  a  Christian.  Mr.  B.  spoke, 
too,  of  his  own  case  as  hopeless.  He  was  possessed, 
he  said,  by  the  devil,  and  given  over  to  everlasting 
destruction.  He  said  he  had  committed  the  unpardon- 
able sin.  'What  is  the  unpardonable  sin?'  said  I. 
'I  do  not  know,'  was  his  reply.  'How,  then,  can 
you  know  that  you  have  committed  it  ? '  He  made 
no  answer.  He  spoke  of  seeing  shadows  that  warned 
him  of  his  doom.  He  said  his  voice  had  been  changed 
by  a  satanic  influence,  and  was  unlike  what  it  formerly 
was.  I  endeavored  to  give  them  both  such  counsel 
as  I  thought  would  do  them  good.  Mr.  B.,  his  attend- 
ant tells  me,  sometimes  kneels  down  by  his  bed,  as  if 
engaged  in  prayer. 

"Dec.  29th. — After  prayers,  visited  Mr.  B.,  who  was 
supposed  to  be  dying  in  the  afternoon,  but  was  better 
in  the  evening.  I  prayed  with  him.  Afterwards  his 
father  arrived,  and  I  witnessed  the  interview  between 
them.  It  was  truly  an  affecting  one.  Mr.  B.  was 
quite  composed  and  rational,  excepting  that  he  seemed 
to  think  his  father  would  not  forgive  him,  and  did  not 
love  him.  He  repeatedly  begged  his  father  to  forgive 
him,  and  to  love  him,  if  it  wras  only  a  little.  He  in- 
quired very  properly  and  affectionately  about  his 
mother  and  the  family. 

"Jan.  22d,  1839. — After  prayers,  spent  some  time 
in  the  committee  room  with  a  circle  of  female  patients. 


REV.   TIIOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  359 

Gave  them  instruction  in  the  manual  alphabet,  in 
which  they  took  a  great  deal  of  interest,  and  also  in 
many  signs  used  by  the  deaf  and  dumb,  which  I  ex- 
plained to  them.  Scarcely  any  thing  was  said  by  any 
one  of  them  ;  indeed,  I  can  recollect  nothing  that 
would  indicate  a  deranged  state  of  the  mind.  One 
made  some  remarks  about  the  derangement  of  another 
patient,  and  spoke,  also,  of  her  own  with  great 
propriety. 

v-  March  12th. — Visited  Mr.  L.  and  found  him 
very  unwell,  and  exceedingly  depressed  in  mind. 
More  should  be  done  to  bring  the  insane  under  the 
influence,  during  the  whole  time,  of  a  rational  and 
cheerful  piety.  Those  who  have  the  care  of  them 
need  such  a  piety  themselves  ;  and  to  act  from  relig- 
ious, benevolent  principle,  feeling  a  pleasure  in  their 
employment,  and  regarding  it  as  one  of  a  truly  ele- 
vated kind,  inasmuch  as  they  are,  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree,, folio  wing  the  example  of  Christ,  if  they  act  from 
the  motives  which  he  presents  to  his  followers.  The 
insane  should  have  vastly  more  means  of  interesting 
and  useful  occupation.  Little  parties  of  sewing  and 
knitting  should  be  formed  for  the  females.  Spinning- 
wheels,  large  and  small,  should  be  introduced.  There 
should  be  a  spacious  hall  for  exercise  in  bad  weather, 
where  battledoor  could  be  played,  and  India-rubber 
balls  used,  and  other  innocent  recreations.  Instru- 
mental music  and  singing  should  be  encouraged,  and 
drawing  and  painting.  The  matron  should  devise 
various  modes  of  entertaining  the  female  patients; 
make  parties  for  them,  with  a  little  fruit  and  lemonade. 

"  There  should  be  a  reading-room  for  the  females, 
and  one  for  the  males,  in  which  should  be  suitable  books, 


360  LIFE   AND   LABOKS   OF 

periodicals,  newspapers  and  pictures,  and  other  enter 
taining  objects ;  a  museum  of  natural  curiosities ; 
collections  of  shells,  of  minerals,  &c.  A  course  of 
lectures  in  chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  &c,  might 
be  delivered ;  on  history  and  biography,  by  the  chap- 
lain. The  females  might  cultivate  flowers  in  pots,  in 
their  apartments,  and  the  males  also.  Singing-birds 
in  cages  might  be  introduced.  Work-shops  for  the 
males  should  be  provided.  Parties  formed  for  the 
males,  and  occasionally  for  both  sexes  to  come  to- 
gether. Checkers,  backgammon  and  chess ;  but  not 
cards.  1.  They  tempt  the  attendants.  2.  They  too 
often  fascinate  too  much  the  patients.  3.  Patients  who 
never  played  before  acquire  a  fondness  for  this  at  the  in- 
stitution, and  the  habit  goes  with  them,  to  expose  them 
to  grievous  temptations.  4.  It  is  revolting  to  the 
feelings  of  many  patients  who  have  been  educated  to 
regard  it  as  an  immorality.  5.  It  must  be  very  nar- 
rowly watched,  not  sometimes  to  lead  to  gambling 
among  the  patients.  6.  It  often  leads  to  profanity 
and  to  boisterous  and  angry  language,  and  in  this  way 
has  annoyed  other  patients  within  hearing  of  it. 

"  Great  pains  should  be  taken  to  interest  and  improve 
the  attendants.  In  their  leisure  time,  they  should  be 
provided  with  suitable  books,  newspapers,  periodicals, 
&c.  They  should  be  regarded  and  treated  as  Christian 
fellow  laborers,  in  the  work  of  doing  good.  They 
should  be  encouraged  to  make  suggestions  in  a  proper 
way.  In  doing  all  these  things,  regard  should,  of 
course,  be  had  to  the  peculiar  state  of  the  patient,  to 
determine  whether  any,  or  how  much,  of  these  means 
of  employment  and  amusement,  may  be  profitable. 
But  who  can  be  among  the  insane,  a  little  while,  and 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  3G1 

not  see  how  they  need  objects  to  occupy  and  interest 
their  minds  ? 

11  April  12th. — Before  prayer  had  some  conversation 
with  the  patients,  in  the  physician's  room.  Visited 
the  male  wing.  Mr.  Hotchkiss,  among  other  things, 
observed  that  no  deception  should  be  practiced  with 
the  patients.  They  knew  it  when  it  was  done,  and  it 
made  them  the  more  uneasy.  He  said,  if  they  asked 
for  what  was  not  proper  for  them,  give  them  a  plain 
denial  at  once,  and  they  will  be  much  better  satisfied. 

"  April  19th. — Prayers  as  usual.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Belk- 
nap, the  new  steward  and  his  lady,  arrived  to-day, 
and  entered  upon  their  duties.  Told  them  there  were 
two  texts  which  they  should  take  for  their  guide :  '  I 
can  do  all  thiugs  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth 
me.'     '  Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.' 

"  April  20th. — Had  some  conversation  with  the  male 
patients  in  the  physician's  room.  Mr.  G.,  a  patient, 
told  me  that  he  thought  it  would  be  much  better  to 
practice  do  deception  with  the  patients.  He  complained 
of  it,  and  said  they  would  be  vastly  better  satisfied 
to  have  it  laid  aside  altogether,  and  if  they  were  to  be 
denied  anything,  to  be  told  so  plainly  and  explicitly. 

"  April  23rd. — Had  considerable  conversation  with 
Mr.  C,  a  patient  from  B.,  and  some  with  Mr.  A. 
Kemember  that  the  patients  often  have  great  delicacy 
and  sensibility,  and  require  to  be  treated  accordingly. 
Are  not  the  insane  peculiarly  sensible  to  kind,  gentle, 
and  delicate  sympathy  ? 

"  May  2nd. — A  dance  this  evening.     I  did  not  stay. 
Dr.  Fuller  asked  me  if  I  had  any  scruples  about  it. 
I  told  him,  I  thought  it  depended  upon  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  conducted. 
16 


362  LIFE  AND   LABOKS   OF 

"  May  10th. — Mr.  C,  a  patient,  arrived,  making  a 
great  noise,  and  using  very  profane  language.  Mr.  S., 
.a  patient,  standing  at  the  door  and  noticing  this,  said, 
'  If  this  is  being  crazy,  it  is  bad  enough ;  I'm  sure, 
I'll  try  and  not  be  crazy  any  more.' 

"  June  9th,  Sabbath. — After  service,  visited  both  the 
male  and  female  wings,  with  Dr.  Fuller  and  Dr.  Haw- 
ley,  and  addressed  religious  conversation  to  a  great 
number  of  the  patients.  All  but  one  received  it 
pleasantly;  that  was  Miss  C,  who  made  some  skeptical 
remarks  in  reply.  How  much  more  good  might  be 
done,  by  having  the  whole  time  of  a  chaplain  devoted 
to  the  institution,  and  he  then  to  have  daily,  personal 
conversation  with  such  of  the  patients,  as,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  physician,  would  be  benefited  by  it, 
on  religious  subjects. 

"  June  18th. — Attended  prayers,  and  remained  some 
time  after  prayers,  conversing  with  the  patients.  Dr. 
Fuller  spoke  to-day  of  the  importance  of  having  a 
library  for  the  patients.  How  much  various  means 
for  affording  them  more  interesting  and  useful  employ- 
ment are  needed.  I  have  often  spoken  of  a  library 
and  of  a  reading  room,  and  of  pictures. 

"June  27tk.— After  prayers,  went  through  the  female 
wing  with  Dr.  Fuller.  Several  of  the  patients  there 
are  in  a  very  excited  state.  Dr.  F.  and  myself  had 
some  conversation  with  them.  Might  not  ingenuity 
and  skill,  and  above  all  Christian  benevolence,  ming- 
led with  great  kindness  and  delicacy  of  conduct,  do 
vastly  more  than  is  done,  for  the  comfort  of  these 
poor  beings,  and  for  their  restoration  ?  Prayer  should 
be  at  the  foundation  of  the  daily  efforts  that  are  made 
for  this  object. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  363 

"  July  3rd. — After  prayers  visited  part  of  the  male 
wing.  Had  some  religious  conversation  with  Mr. 
S.,  and  Mr.  M. ;  the  latter  told  me  of  his  having,  or 
nearly  having,  the  delirium  tremens  from  the  use  of 
spirituous  liquors  to  excess.  He  saw  a  great  many 
little  snakes  on  his  bed,  protruding  their  heads  at  him. 
The  excessive  use  of  alcohol  and  opinm  was  one  of  the 
principal  causes,  if  not  the  principal  cause,  of  his  de- 
rangement ;  and  yet,  so  great  is  his  infatuation,  that 
he  told  me  he  considered  it  a  part  of  his  very  nature 
to  use  these  articles,  that  his  enjoying  health  depended 
on  this,  and  that  he  would  use  them  moderately  if 
he  could.  He  seemed  to  have  no  idea  of  his  danger 
in  using  them.  His  parents  are  pious  people.  0  that 
divine  grace  would  touch  his  heart. 

11  July  15th. — This  day,  the  second  year  begins  of 
my  connection  with  the  Eetreat,  as  Chaplain.  The 
first  thought  that  strikes  my  mind,  on  a  review  of  the 
past,  is  the  need  that  I  have  to  lament  the  imperfect 
manner  in  which  I  have  discharged  my  duties,  and 
especially  that  I  have  not  felt  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  those  who  have  been  within  the 
reach  of  my  ministrations.  0  God,  awaken  a  new 
zeal  in  my  breast,  with  regard  to  the  future.  O  that 
some  one,  or  more,  that  are  concerned  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  institution,  would  discover  an  interest  in 
its  spiritual  welfare !  How  it  would  encourage  me 
and  cheer  my  heart.  What  good  might  be  done !  The 
physician,  the  steward,  the  matron,  the  attendants,  and 
a  considerable  number  of  the  patients,  are  accessible 
to  the  influence  of  religious  truth.  What  an  influence 
for  good,  if  all  there  (I  hope  some  of  them  do,)  felt 
its  influence.     During  the  past  year,  besides  preaching 


364  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

on  Thanksgiving  and  Fast  days,  I  have  preached 
every  Sabbath,  excepting  three :  Dec.  23rd,  when  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  Brownell  officiated,  myself  present ;  Feb. 
2nd,  when  I  exchanged  with  Rev.  Mr.  Southgate,  of 
Wethersneld,  and  April  7th,  when  Rev.  Horace 
Hooker  officiated,  myself  being  present.  I  have 
visited  the  male  wing  eighty-two  times,  frequently 
with  Drs.  Fuller  and  Hawley,  and  sometimes  alone, 
conversing  with  the  patients,  and  sometimes  praying 
with  them.  In  the  same  way  I  have  visited,  the 
matron  or  assistant  matron  accompanying  us,  the 
female  wing  and  rooms  in  the  center  building,  and 
Mr.  Lee,  at  his  room  opposite  the  Retreat,  seventy- 
two  times.  I  have,  a  few  times,  spent  a  whole  day 
at  the  Retreat ;  and  oftener  (say  twenty)  half  claj's,  not 
including  prayers  and  evenings ;  and  twice  accom- 
panied the  patients  in  a  visit  to  the  Asylum  for  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb.  In  attending  evening  prayers,  I 
have  generally  had  more  or  less  conversation  with 
the  patients,  who  have  been  down  stairs,  before  and 
after  prayers,  and  sometimes  prolonging  my  visits 
into  the  evening. 

■"  Aug.  21st. — Spent  the  day  at  the  Retreat,  dining 
with  the  family,  visiting  the  whole  of  both  wings  with 
Dr.  Fuller,  conversing  with  the  patients  as  I  had 
opportunity,  and  reading  in  some  of  the  old  records 
of  cases  in  1829.  Attended  prayers  in  the  evening. 
0,  how  desirable  that  the  spirit  of  humble,  dependent 
piety,  and  of  good  will  to  others,  on  the  self-denying 
principles  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  should  be  made  to 
influence  all  that  is  done  for  the  relief  of  the  insane,  in 
an  Institution  for  their  benefit !  Yastly  more  atten- 
tion should  be  paid  to  the  moral  and  religious  condi- 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  365 

tion  of  the  attendants,  an  interest  shown  in  them,  and 
means  devised  for  their  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
provement. They  have  some  leisure  time.  How  pro- 
fitably it  might  be  filled  np  with  judicious  reading. 

"  Aug.  25th,  Sabbath. — Why  cannot  an  air  of  more 
sacredness  and  serene  solemnity,  be  shed  over  an 
establishment  for  the  insane,  on  the  Sabbath  ?  I  am 
becoming  more  and  more  convinced  that  a  wise  relig- 
ious influence  ought  to  be  made,  under  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  pervade  such  institutions.  It  will  yet  be  done, 
and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  illustrate  its  power  here  as 
elsewhere.  God  has  not  been  honored,  in  this  respect, 
as  he  ought  to  have  been. 

"  Sept.  6th. — Before  prayers,  had  considerable  con- 
versation with  Mr.  P.,  who  is  recovering.  Among 
other  things,  he  observed  that  it  was  very  strange  that 
the  physicians  should  attempt  to  doctor  religious  no- 
tions and  feelings  out  of  a  man  by  medicine.  lie 
thought  it  was  wrong. 

"  Sept.  27th. — Visited  the  female  wing  with  Miss 
Clark.  Attended  prayers.  There  should  be  a  room 
to  which,  at  convenient  times,  the  matron  should  invite 
two  or  three  of  the  female  patients  under  the  direction 
of  the  physician,  to  meet  the  chaplain,  the  matron  re- 
maining, (or  the  assistant  matron,)  for  the  opportunity 
of  religious  conversation.  Let  this  be  done  in  rotation. 
It  would  afford  the  means  of  conducting  such  conver- 
sation better  than  it  now  can  be  done  in  the  wing ; 
not,  however,  to  supersede  the  latter  mode. 

"  Oct.  4th. — Spent  most  of  the  forenoon  at  the  Retreat. 
Visited  both  wings  with  Dr.  Fuller,  and  had  much 
conversation  with  the  patients.  How  many  more 
things  might  be  done  for  their  innocent  and  profitable 


366  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

occupation.  The  minds  and  feelings  of  some  of  the 
idiotic  patients  might  be  waked  up  to  activity,  and 
possibly  to  improvement,  I  have  no  doubt. 

"  Dr.  Fuller,  Mr.  Bayles,  his  brother,  and  myself,  had 
a  little  meeting  in  one  of  the  rooms,  for  conversation, 
previous  to  Mr.  B.'s  going  home,  which  he  did  this 
day.  The  object  was  to  present  the  strongest  motive 
to  his  mind,  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks. 
I  urged  upon  him  the  duty  of  looking  to  God  for 
strength,  and  of  habitual,  earnest  prayer,  for  that 
purpose. 

"  Dec.  4th. — Soon  after  dinner,  called  on  Miss  C,  at 
Miss  Ely's,  who  is  in  a  deranged  state  of  mind.  Had 
a  long  conversation  with  her,  and  endeavored  to  per- 
suade her  to  be  willing  to  go  to  the  Retreat.  She  said 
she  would  see  me  again  to-morrow.  At  the  request 
of  Mrs.  EL,  her  sister,  and  of  Mrs.  Ely,  I  called  on 
Mr.  Daniel  Burgess,  and  requested  him  to  call  at  Mrs. 
Ely's  and  let  Miss  P.  know  that  her  friends  had  con- 
cluded that  she  must  go  to  the  Retreat,  and  to  compel 
her  to  go  if  necessary.  I  advised  this  course,  in  pref- 
erence to  any  that  involved  any  deception  or  man- 
euvering. It  was  taken,  and  the  object  accomplished 
without  any  difficulty,  she  only  protesting  that  she 
went  against  her  will.  She  arrived  at  the  Retreat  im- 
mediately after  prayers ;  at  which  time  I  officiated,  as 
usual.  It  has  been  my  undeviating  course,  which  I 
think  is  the  only  correct  one,  to  practice  nothing  like 
deception  or  collusion  with  the  patients,  and  to  fulfill 
strictly  all  my  engagements  with  them. 

"July  30th. — Prayers  and  conversation.  Rode  in 
with  Dr.  Brigham.  Told  him  the  principle  that  would 
regulate  my  conduct  in  my  department,  that  of  acknowl- 


REV.   TIIOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  367 

edging  him  as  the  head  of  the  Institution,  and  of 
acting  in  my  intercourse  with  the  patients,  in  accord- 
ance with  his  views  and  regulations.  Told  him  I 
wished,  if  at  any  time  I  failed  in  this  particular,  that 
he  would  let  me  know  it.  He  said  he  thought  the 
only  point  where  some  caution  would  be  necessary, 
would  be  in  inviting  clergymen  to  preach  in  the  Re- 
treat. I  told  him  he  could  either  leave  that  to  my 
discretion,  till  he  saw  reason  to  think  I  was  acting 
unwisely ;  or,  I  would  consult  him  in  each  particular 
case.     He  said  he  did  not  wish  me  to  do  this. 

"Dec.  26th,  1841,  Sabbath. — Just  after  beginning 
the  sermon,  one  of  the  female  patients  walked  across 
the  hall,  rather  suddenly,  into  the  men's  room,  and 
was  taken  back  with  some  difficulty.  As  she  entered 
the  men's  room,  young  B.,  a  patient,  became  greatly 
excited.  For  a  minute  or  two  the  doors  of  the  males' 
and  of  the  females'  rooms  were  closed,  and  the  exer- 
cises suspended.  I  soon  began  again,  and  there  was 
entire  quiet  till  the  close.  This  is  the  first  and  only 
time,  since  I  have  been  connected  with  the  Eetreat, 
that  I  have  ever  suspended,  at  all,  the  course  of  relig- 
ious exercises. 

11  From  May  11th,  1846,  to  April  10th,  (inclusive,) 
1847.  Absent  on  an  excursion,  for  health,  three 
months  and  eighteen  days,  Rev.  Horace  Hooker  taking 
my  place.  During  the  rest  of  the  time  (say  eight  and 
a  half  months)  visited  male  wing,  113  times;  female 
wing  89  times.  Visited  female  reading  and  sewing 
parties,  45  times.  Made  personal  visits  to  the  patients, 
attendants,  and  nurses,  (male  and  female)  328  times. 
Prayed  with  patients,  attendants  and  nurses,  twenty- 
nine  times.     No  funeral  services,  except,  in  a  few  in- 


368  LIFE  AND   LABOES  OF 

stances,  they  have  been  connected  with  the  services  in 
the  chapel  at  evening  prayers.  Officiated  at  prayers, 
on  the  Sabbaths,  and  Thanksgiving,  and  Fast  days. 

"Oct.  9th,  1847. — Visited  E.  early  in  the  forenoon, 
and  asked  him  if  I  shonld  pray  with  him.  He  said,  not 
now  ;  I  will  let  yon  know.  I  had  told  him  I  was  about 
going  into  the  city,  but  would  be  back  soon.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  sent  for  me  to  the  physician's  office,  where 
I  was.  I  went  to  him.  '  On  the  whole,'  said  he,  '  I 
think  you  had  better  pray  with  me  now;  for  we  do 
not  know  what  may  happen  within  two  or  three  hours.' 
I  began  to  pray.  He  stopped  me,  saying,  'Excuse 
me;  but  I  wish  to  have  you  make  one  special  request.' 
( What  is  it  ?  '  said  I.  He  replied,  *  I  am  a  very 
great  sinner  ;  pray  that  God  would  soften  my  heart ! ' 

"April  12th,  1848. — This  day,  myself  and  wife  re- 
ceived a  bed  quilt  with  the  accompanying  note,  in  the 
hand-writing  of  Miss  E.  C,  a  patient : 

11  'Presented  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gallaudet,  by  the  ladies 
of  the  Eetreat,  April  12th,  1848.' 

"  On  various  parts  of  the  quilt,  texts  of  Scripture  are 
written  by  female  patients,  with  their  signatures.  The 
following  verses  accompanied  the  present,  by  Miss  M. 
G.,  a  patient : 

" '  This  offering  to  thee  we  send, 
And  with  it  our  affections  tend  ; 
Perhaps  you'll  smile,  perhaps  you'll  laugh, 
We  planned  it  for  your  better  half. 

The  patchwork,  though  so  intricate, 
Is  from  a  model  drawn  of  late. 
'Twas  your  good  friend,  our  Mrs.  C.,* 
That  first  designed  this  plan  for  thee. 

*  Matron  in  the  Retreat. 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  369 

"We  all  agreed,  with  one  consent, 
And  with  the  work  right  onward  went. 
The  names  subscribed  in  pen  aud  ink, 
Are  well  ensconced  in  white  and  pink. 

These  passages  of  Scripture  truth, 
You've  made  familiar  from  your  youth  ; 
But  each  of  us  has  placed  them  here, 
An  emblem  of  our  love  sincere." 

"  Services  at  the  Eetreat  from  April  1st,  1850,  to 
April  1st,  1851 : 

"  Visits  to  male  wing,  148 ;  female  wing,  206.  Total, 
354.  Personal  visits  to  patients,  attendants  and  nurses, 
502.  Prayers  with  patients,  attendants  and  nurses,  16, 
Funeral  services,  5. 

'•Officiated  at  prayers,  Sabbaths  and  Fast-day.  Vis- 
ited Asylum  with  patients." 

In  the  month  of  June,  1845,  Mr.  Gallaudet  received 
a  copy  of  a  circular  from  a  committee  of  his  class  in 
the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  inviting  him  to 
meet  them  there  at  the  approaching  anniversary,  for  a 
renewal  of  their  acquaintance,  and  to  recount  to  one 
another  what  had  befallen  them  in  the  more  than 
thirty  years  since  they  left  the  seminary.  As  he  could 
not  be  with  them,  he  wrote  them  the  following  letter, 
containing  a  succinct  history  of  the  way  in  which  the 
Lord  had  led  him : 

"  Hartford,  Coxecticut,  July  28th,  1845. 
"Kev.  B.  B.  Edwards. 

"Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  the  circular  addressed  to 

the  Alumni  of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  I 

would  state  the  following  particulars :  I  have  never 

been  settled  in  the  ministry.     Soon  after  completing 

16* 


370  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

my  studies  at  Andover,  in  1814,  I  engaged  in  the  en- 
terprise of  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  continued 
in  this  sphere  of  duty  till  the  fall  of  1830. 

"  I  was  '  ordained  to  preach  the  Gospel,'  by  an  Ec- 
clesiastical Council,  convened  in  Hartford,  of  which 
the  venerable  Dr.  Nathan  Perkins  was  Moderator, 
September  23d,  1834.  From  1830  to  1838,  I  was  em- 
ployed principally  in  writing  books  for  children  and 
youth,  nearly  all  of  which  were  designed  to  illustrate 
and  enforce  the  truths  of  religion ;  and  from  time  to 
time,  in  supplying  vacant  pulpits  in  and  around  Hart- 
ford. One  of  these  books,  *  The  ChilcVs  Book  on  the  Soul,'' 
has  been  circulated  extensively  in  the  United  States ; 
it  has  also  been  published  in  England  ;  in  French,  at 
Paris ;  in  German ;  in  modern  Greek  at  Athens,  and 
approved  and  circulated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Greece  by  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction;  in 
Greco-Turkish ;  in  Armeno-Turkish ;  in  Siamese ;  in 
Chinese,  and  in  the  language  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

"  Some  of  my  other  books  have  also  been  translated 
and  published  in  various  foreign  languages,  especially 
at  our  missionary  stations.  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  Lord  has  blessed  the  labors  of  myself  and 
colleagues,  among  the  deaf  and  dumb,  in  the  applica- 
tion of  his  renewing  grace  to  the  hearts  of  not  a  few 
of  them,  and  in  the  preparation  of  many  more,  by 
instruction  in  divine  truth,  yet  to  come  under  its  sav- 
ing influence.  This  is  true  missionary  ground.  Will 
not  my  brethren  in  Christ  remember  these  imprisoned 
minds,  and  those  who  labor  among  them,  in  their 
prayers.  How  seldom,  I  fear,  are  they  thus  remem- 
bered! They  are  among  'the  poor,'  to  whom,  in 
these  latter  days,  the  Gospel  is  at  length  preached. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  371 

Besides,  all  should  be  interested  in  invoking  the  bless- 
ing of  God  upon  them,  and  upon  the  Institution  es- 
tablished for  their  relief,  for  every  increasing  family 
may  have  a  deaf  and  dumb  child  in  it,  as  one  half  of 
them  become  so  after  birth,  by  disease  or  accident.  In 
the  seven  institutions  for  them  in  our  country,  now  in 
operation,  religious  worship  is  maintained  by  signs, 
and  evangelical  religious  truth  inculcated.  Nearly 
all  our  teachers  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  are  professors 
of  religion,  and,  in  the  view  of  charity,  pious  men. 

"In  July,  1838,  I  began  my  labors  at  the  Retreat 
for  the  Insane,  in  this  city,  where  I  still  continue 
them,  spending  my  afternoons  in  personal  intercourse 
with  the  patients ;  conducting  religious  exercises, 
which  but  few  of  them  fail  of  attending,  at  the  close 
of  each  day,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  each  Sabbath. 
My  interest  in  this  afflicted  class  of  our  fellow-man  is 
constantly  increasing.  I  love  my  work,  and  I  think 
the  evidence  in  this  and  other  similar  institutions,  is 
daily  accumulating,  that  the  blessed  truths  of  the  Gospel 
are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  singular  and  affecting 
condition  of  the  insane ;  furnishing  one  of  the  most 
efficacious  means  of  cure,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
securities,  after  restoration  to  soundness  of  mind, 
against  a  relapse.  A  new  triumph  of  the  cross  of 
Christ !  Why,  may  I  ask  again,  are  the  insane  so 
rarely  remembered  in  our  private,  domestic,  and  pub- 
lic devotions?  When  our  Savior  was  on  earth,  the 
lunatic  had  a  prominent  share  of  his  compassion. 

"  From  December,  1837,  to  March,  1844,  I  acted  as 
volunteer  Chaplain  of  the  Hartford  County  Jail,  hold- 
ing a  religious  meeting  with  the  prisoners,  and  preach- 
ing a  sermon  to  them  every  Sabbath  morning,  which 


372  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

service  I  was  reluctantly  obliged  to  discontinue  on  ac- 
count of  a  chronic  affection  of  my  throat  and  lungs. 
Did  time  permit,  I  could  state  some  very  interesting 
cases,  in  which  the  Lord,  by  his  grace,  has  evidently 
blessed  these  labors.  With  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments in  discipline,  how  much  yet  remains  for  the 
philanthropist  and  Christian  to  do  for  this  class  of  our 
fellow  men !  I  have,  till  within  about  two  years  past, 
(being  obliged  to  relax  my  efforts  on  account  of  ill 
health,)  still  prosecuted,  with  my  other  occupations, 
the  work  of  authorship,  being  principally  engaged  in 
this  way  in  writing  a  series  of  volumes,  adapted  to 
young  minds,  of  {  Scripture  Biography,'  which  have 
been  published  and  circulated  by  the  American  Tract 
Society.  During  the  same  period,  I  have  had  pub- 
lished a  Spelling  Book  and  a  School  and  Family  Dic- 
tionary, in  connection  with  the  Eev.  Horace  Hooker, 
he  and  myself  being  joint  authors;  in  the  latter  of 
which  is  included,  by  way  of  illustrations  of  the  mean- 
ing of  words,  a  large  amount  of  historical,  moral,  and 
religious  truth,  and  many  quotations  from  the  sacred 
Scriptures. 

"Since  leaving  the  seminary,  I  have  devoted  no 
small  portion  of  my  time  to  aid  the  movements  in 
favor  of  general  education,  and  of  other  public  objects 
of- Christian  benevolence. 

"If,  in  these  various  ways,  I  have  been  permitted 
and  enabled  to  do  any  good;  to  God  and  his  grace  be 
all  the  glory. 

"I  was  married  about  twenty-four  years  ago,  to 
Sophia  Fowler,  of  Guilford,  Connecticut,  a  deaf-mute 
from  birth,  and  a  pupil  in  the  class  in  the  asylum  of 
which  I  had  the  especial  charge  for  a  term  of  years, 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  873 

She  is  now  forty  seven  years  of  age,  and  myself  fifty- 
seven.  We  have  had  eight  children,  all  of  whom 
hear  and  speak,  and  are  living.  Death  has  never  en- 
tered our  dwelling  since  the  clay  of  our  marriage. 
Such  is  my  story.  May  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  be 
with  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus. 

"Yours  in  trie  bonds  of  affection, 

"THOMAS  H.  GALLAUDET." 

The  following  letter  seems  to  have  been  written  to 
Mr.  Gallaudet  when  he  was  absent  from  home  on  one 
of  his  vacations,  and  deserves  a  place  in  this  memoir. 
It  could  not  be  inserted  earlier,  without  interrupting 
the  continuity  of  the  diary. 

"  Retreat,  Thursday,  July  9th,  1846. 

"  My  much  respected  and  esteemed  Friend, — 
Your  little  note  to  me,  enclosed  in  a  letter  to  your 
daughter,  was  very  gladly  received  last  evening.  I 
am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  for  putting 
yourself  to  so  much  trouble  to  go  and  see  my  aged 
and  very  excellent  mother.  I  know  she  was  very 
glad  to  see  you,  and  your  visit  gave  her  great  com- 
fort, and  I  hope  your  trip  was  not  without  pleasure  to 
yourself.  You  certainly  saw  a  very  romantic  country, 
and  breathed  some  pure  air,  and  I  hope  your  ride  did 
you  good,  aside  from  the  luxury  you  always  find  in 
adding  something  to  the  happiness  of  others.  As  you 
say,  my  dear  mother  has  suffered  a  good  deal,  and  is 
very  infirm;  but  I  never  heard  a  murmur  from  her  lips, 
and  she  is  always  cheerful.  Allow  me  to  thank  }~ou 
again,  my  dear  friend,  for  your  kindness.  I  appreciate 
it,  and  I  know  my  mother  does  also.     She  will  never 


374  LIFE  AND   LABOES  OF 

ceo.se  to  remember  your  kindness  with,  a  lively  grati- 
tude. I  wish  I  could  have  been  there  with  you,  for  I 
could  have  shown  you  some  very  pretty  views  within 
short  walks  of  my  mother's  house.  I  am  afraid  you 
did  not  see  them,  as  my  brother  has  not  much  taste  in 
such  things.  I  love  to  go  home  once  in  a  while,  and 
clamber  over  those  hills  of  my  cow-boy  days.  I  hope 
you  saw  the  farm  owned  by  my  father,  though  it  has 
very  much  degenerated,  except  the  part  now  belong- 
ing to  my  mother. 

"  We  are  all  going  along  at  the  Eetreat  very  quietly. 
Number  of  patients,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven. 
Mr.  Walker  has  left.  Mygatt  goes  to-day  on  a  farm. 
Edward  Thompson  has  gone.  On  the  4th  of  July  we 
had  a  very  pleasant  celebration.  The  L  in  the  north 
dormitory  hall  was  fitted  up  most  beautifully  with 
evergreens  and  flowers,  and  the  table  set  there.  The 
hall  was  ornamented  clear  through,  and  the  table  with 
flowers,  beautiful  cake,  fruit,  lemonade,  &c.  The  ex- 
ercises were  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Hooker;  then  came  an  address  by  Mr.  Jewett,  very 
good  indeed ;  then  an  oration  by  Mr.  Wads  worth, 
which  was  marked  with  great  beauty-  of  thought  and 
style,  and  delivered  in  an  eloquent,  manly,  and  impres- 
sive manner.  It  was  really  a  very  fine  speech,  and 
interested  us  all  very  much.  After  this  came  the 
refreshments,  with  twenty  or  thirty  toasts,  all  of  which 
shall  be  kept  for  your  inspection  on  your  return. 
After  the  refreshments  and  toasts,  Mr.  Hooker  re- 
turned thanks,  and  the  exercises  closed.  We  also  had 
vocal  and  instrumental  music.  We  were  together 
about  two  hours,  without  a  single  instance  of  dis- 
orderly conduct  on  the  part  of  any  patient,  and  there 


EEV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  375 

were  about  eighty  present.     You  would  have  enjoyed 
it  highly  had  you  been  present. 

Your  sincere  friend,  "  DANIEL  BROOKS." 

I  also  here  insert  the  following  report  of  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet,  as  Chaplain  of  the  Eetreat. 

"  The  usual  religious  exercises  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
the  evenings  of  the  other  days  of  the  week,  have  been 
regularly  continued  during  the  past  year.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  patients  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
attending  these  exercises,  and  have  evinced  the  benefit 
derived  from  them  by  the  good  order  and  becoming 
deportment  which,  with  very  few  exceptions,  have 
prevailed.  The  religious  sensibilities  are,  in  this  way, 
often  rekindled.  Self-control  is  aided  in  regaining  its 
dominion ;  and  peace,  at  least  for  a  season,  visits  the 
most  agitated  breast.  May  we  not  hope  and  pray  that 
the  Spirit  of  grace  and  consolation  will  here,  as  well  as 
elsewhere,  shed  down  its  hallowed  influences  to  en- 
lighten, to  purify,  and  to  bless  the  soul.  Our  Savior, 
before  he  left  the  world,  promised  the  Comforter  to  his 
disciples ;  and  will  he  not  delight  to  fulfill  this  promise 
among  such  as  are  kindred  sufferers  with  those  who 
shared  so  largely  in  his  compassion  while  on  earth  ? 
Among  these  sufferers  we  often  find  some  of  his  most 
faithful  followers. 

Cases  frequently  occur  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  physician,  require  the  services  of  the  chaplain  in 
the  way  of  personal  intercourse  with  the  patients  ; 
when  the  hope-inspiring  views  and  promises  of  the 
Gospel  may  be  addressed  to  the  desponding  mind  with 
great  benefit.  Such  services  have  been  promptly  and 
cheerfully  rendered. 


376  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

Death  sometimes  enters  the  walls  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  it  has  more  than  once  happened,  that  the 
spirit  about  to  take  its  flight  to  another  world,  and  in 
full  possession  of  its  reasoning  powers,  finds  its  faith 
and  hope  invigorated  by  the .  consolations  which  are 
administered,  and  the  prayers  which  are  offered  up,  at 
this  trying  hour.  It  is  a  solace,  too,  to  the  friends  of 
the  deceased,  to  know  that  the  funeral  solemnities  are 
conducted  with  .appropriate  religious  exercises.  They 
have  themselves  often  been  present  at  these  exercises. 

There  are  other  occasions,  also,  when  feeble  and 
convalescent  patients  express  a  wish  to  have  the  chap- 
lain visit  them,  that  they  may  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
religious  counsels,  and  of  uniting  in  supplication  at 
the  throne  of  grace.  With  the  advice  and  approba- 
tion of  the  physician,  such  visits  are  made,  and  evi- 
dently with  very  beneficial  results. 

In  addition  to  this,  it  Las  been  the  custom  of  the 
chaplain  to  visit  the  patients  throughout  the  institu- 
tion, from  time  to  time;  to  exchange  civilities  and 
pleasant  conversation  with  them  ;  and  to  let  them  see 
that  he  takes  a  personal  interest  in  their  welfare.  The 
respect  and  kindness  with  which  they  uniformly  treat 
him,  is  no  less  grateful  to  his  feelings  than  indicative 
of  the  advantages  which  such  intercourse,  wisely  con- 
ducted, is  capable  of  affording.  The  insane  know  well 
how  to  appreciate  acts  of  sympathy,  and  among  others 
those  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 

The  other  inmates  of  the  establishment,  including 
the  attendants  and  nurses,  all  of  whom  are  usually 
present  at  the  religious  exercises,  it  is  not  to  be  for- 
gotten, come  in  for  their  share  of  the  benefits  which 
these  exercises  afford.     Every  day  they  hear  truths 


REV.    THOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  377 

and  precepts  from  the  word  of  God  which,  if  cherished 
and  obeyed,  will  tend  to  make  them  more  faithful  in 
the  discharge  of  duty  ;  and  they  have  the  Gospel 
preached  to  them,  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  which 
they  would  otherwise  be  but  seldom  permitted  to 
hear,  as  their  constant  attendance  on  the  patients  is 
one  essential  feature  of  the  management  of  the  in- 
stitution. 

Commending  it,  with  its  various  interests  and 
concerns,  to  the  guidance,  protection  and  blessing  of 
Almighty  God,  the  chaplain  cannot  conclude  this 
report  of  his  labors  without  acknowledging  the  re- 
spectful kindness  which  has  always  been  shown  him, 
in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties,  by  the  physician, 
and  all  the  other  officers  and  inmates  of  the  Eetreat. 

"  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 

"May  12th,  1841." 

TESTIMONIAL  OF  THE  DEAF  MUTES  OF  NEW  ENG- 
LAND TO  MESSRS.  GALLAUDET  AND  CLERC. 

Whenever  Mr.  Gallandet  might  have  left  the  Asy- 
lum for  deaf  mutes,  of  which  he  was,  in  an  important 
sense,  the  founder,  over  which  he  presided  for  twelve 
years,  and  where  he  labored  with  unremitted  toil  and 
remarkable  success,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
the  hundreds  of  his  pupils,  whose  imprisoned  minds 
he  had  liberated,  to  have  forgotten  their  greatest 
earthly  benefactor.  And,  though  no  longer  a  teacher 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  they  remembered  him  with  the 
affection  of  children  for  a  father,  and  revolved  in  their 
minds  in  what  way  they  could  testify  their  gratitude 
to  him  and  to  Mr.  Clerc,  his  worthy  associate  in  those 
labors  of  love,  which  had,  as  it  were,  u  brought  them 


378 


LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 


out  of  darkness  into  marvelous  light."  The  more 
they  thought  on  the  matter,  the  more  did  "their 
hearts  burn  within  them,"  till  their  gratitude  ripened 
into  a  filial  resolution  to  come  together  at  the  Asylum, 
bringing  with  them  some  fitting  testimonial. 

"It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  insert  in  this  memoir 
some  extracts  from  the  account  of  the  interesting 
exercises  which  took  place  at  Hartford,  on  the  20th 
of  September,  1850,  on  the  presentation  of  silver  plate 
to  these  gentlemen,  by  their  former  pupils  in  the 
American  Asylum,  drawn  up  by  Prof.  Kae,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  '  American  Annals  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,'  for  October,  1850. 

The  idea  originated  with  Mr.  Thomas  Brown,  of 
New  Hampshire,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  intelli- 
gent of  the  pupils  of  the  Asylum.  He  said  to  the 
writer  of  this  article,  in  his  graphic  language  of  signs, 
that  his  spirit  could  find  no  rest,  until  he  had  devised 
some  method  of  giving  expression  to  the  grateful  feel- 
ing which  filled  his  heart,  and  which  the  lapse  of  years 
served  only  to  increase.  He  had  but  to  suggest  the 
thought  to  others  of  his  former  associates,  when  it  was 
eagerly  seized  and  made  the  common  property  of 
them  all.  In  the  vivid  simile  of  the  orator  of  the  day, 
the  flame  of  love  ran,  like  a  prairie  fire,  through  the 
hearts  of  the  whole  deaf-mute  band,  scattered,  though 
they  were,  in  different  parts  of  the  country;  and 
measures  were  immediately  adopted  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  object.  A  committee  was  chosen  to  procure 
the  necessary  funds,  and  in  a  very  short  time,  the  hand- 
some sum  of  six  hundred  dollars  was  obtained  ;  wholly 
from  the  deaf  and  dumb  themselves.  The  entire 
credit  of  the  transaction  belongs  to  them.     The  plan 


BEY.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  379 

was  not  known,  we  believe,  to  any  other  person,  until 
it  had  been  matured  and  placed  beyond  the  chance  of 
failure. 

After  due  consultation,  it  was  decided  to  procure  a 

massive  silver  pitcher  for  Mr.  Gallaudet,  and  another 

of  the  same  size  and  workmanship,  for  Mr.   Clerc — 

each  pitcher  to  be   accompanied   by   an   appropriate 

rer. 

Upon  one  side  of  the  pitchers  is  an  engraved  scene, 
representing  Mr.  Gallaudet's  going  to  France  in  the 
year  1817,  to  induce  Mr.  Clerc  to  come  to  America 
to  instruct  the  deaf  and  dumb.  There  are  figures  of 
the  gentlemen,  and  ships  and  waves  illustrating  the 
age  across  the  ocean.  The  building  of  the  Hart- 
ford institution  is  likewise  represented.  On  the  other 
side  is  seen  a  picture  of  the  interior  of  the  school, 
with  teachers  and  pupils,  and  apparatus.  In  front, 
and  between  these  scenes,  is  the  head  of  the  Abbe 
Sicard,  of  Paris,  the  instructor  of  Messrs.  Gallaudet 
and  Clerc,  and  said  to  be  a  correct  likeness.  On  the 
necks  of  the  pitchers  are  chased  the  different  coats 
of  arms  of  all  the  New  England  states  ;  and  on  the 
handles  are  representations  of  mute  Cupids,  and  also 
closed  hands,  indicating  the  sign  of  the  mutes  for  the 
first  letter  of  the  alphabet. 

On  the  pitcher  destined  for  Mr.  Gallaudet,  was 
engraved : 


380  LIFE   AND   LABOES  OF 

PRESENTED    TO 

REV.    THOMAS    H.    GALLAUDET, 

FIRST    PRINCIPAL    OF    THE    AMERICAN    ASYLUM, 

AS   A   TOKEN    OF    GRATEFUL   RESPECT, 

BY   THE    DEAF    MUTES    OF    NEW    ENGLAND. 

MOVED    BY   COMPASSION   FOR   THE   UNFORTUNATE   DEAF   AND    DUMB 

OF    HIS    COUNTRY,    HE    DEVOTED    HIMSELF    TO    THEIR 

WELFARE,    AND    PROCURED    FOR    THEM    THE 

BLESSINGS    OF    EDUCATION. 

HARTFORD,   CONN.,  SEPT.  26TH,    1850. 

On  the  salver : 

TO    REV.    THOMAS    H.    GALLAUDET, 

FROM    HIS   FRIENDS,    THE    DEAF    MUTES    OF    NEW    ENGLAND. 

HARTFORD,    CONN.,    SEPT.    26TH,    1850. 

The  twenty-sixth  day  of  September,  to  be  memorable 
henceforth  as  one  of  the  '  feast-days '  of  the  .deaf 
mutes  of  New  England,  was  selected  for  the  public 
presentation ;  and  the  usual  school  exercises  of  the 
Asylum  were  suspended,  during  the  half  week.  A 
book  prepared  for  the  purpose,  received  the  names  of 
more  than  two  hundred  deaf  and  dumb  visitants  not 
now  connected  with  the  Asylum.  Every  state  in 
New  England  was  largely  represented ;  and  from  as 
far  south  as  Virginia,  several  of  our  former  pupils, 
after  an  absence  of  many  years,  returned  to  tread  once 
more  the  old  familiar  ground. 

Had  we  room  for  it,  it  would  be  pleasant  to 
1  report '  many  things  that  were  said  on  this  occasion  ; 
but  our  limits  forbid.  One  young  man,  after  re- 
peatedly declining  the  calls  of  his  friends  for  a  speech, 
at  last  yielded  to  their  urgency,  and  went  upon  the 
platform.  He  told  the  audience,  that  it  would  gratify 
him  much  to  address  them,  but  he  found  it  quite  im- 


KEV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  381 

possible  to  collect  himself  for  the  purpose,  for  his 
thoughts  were  all  in  the  silver  pitchers  ;  and  saying  this 
he  sat  down. 

At  half-past  two  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  procession  was 
formed  at  the  Asylum,  and  proceeded  to  the  Center 
Church. 

The  exercises  at  the  church  commenced  at  three 
o'clock  precisely.  In  the  absence  of  the  Hon.  T.  S. 
Williams,  president  of  the  board  of  directors,  Lewis 
Weld,  Esq.,  the  principal  of  the  Asylum,  gave  an 
explanation  of  the  design  of  the  meeting  in  the  sign 
language,  to  the  deaf  mutes  present,  and  welcomed 
them  back  to  the  institution.  He  then  read  the  same 
explanation  to  the  hearing  public  present. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  Hawes. 

Mr.  Thomas  Brown,  of  ISTew  Hampshire,  the 
President  of  the  day,  then  addressed  his  former  fellow- 
pupils  by  signs ;  which  address  was  read  by  Mr.  Weld. 

Mr.  Brown's  Remarks. 

1  My  deaf  and  dumb  friends, — -The  object  of  our  as- 
sembling here  is  chiefly  to  pay  our  grateful  respects 
to  our  early  benefactors — to  those,  to  whose  assiduous 
labors  we  owe  our  education,  and  the  hopes  and  hap- 
piness it  has  afforded  us. 

1  Let  me  congratulate  you  on  our  happy  meeting. 
How  interesting  to  us  all  is  the  occasion,  as  one  for 
the  renewal  of  former  friendships,  and  the  expression 
of  grateful  acknowledgments  to  our  best  friends  and 
benefactors.  Let  us  ever  remember  them,  and  love 
the  great  and  good  institution  with  the  sincere  love 
of  children.' 


382  LIFE  AND  LABOKS  OF 

Mr.  Fisher  Ames  Spofford,  the  orator  of  the  day, 
now  took  the  stand.  As  his  address  had  not  been 
written,  a  translation  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Gallaudet,  of  New  York,  for  the  benefit  of  the  hearing 
part  of  the  anditory,  as  he  proceeded.  We  insert  only 
its  concluding  sentences : 

1  Thirty-three  years  ago,  there  were  no  educated 
deaf  mutes  sent  out  into  the  world;  now,  a  large 
number.  What  a  change  does  this  fact  present ! 
Who  have  been  the  instruments  of  this  change? 
Messrs.  Gallaudet  and  Clerc,  under  the  smiles  of 
heaven.  Our  ignorance  was  like  chaos,  without  light 
and  hope.  But,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  light 
has  shone  through  the  chaos,  and  reduced  it  to  order. 
The  deaf  mutes  have  long  wished  to  express  their 
gratitude  to  these  benefactors.  Mr.  Brown  first  con- 
ceived the  idea,  and  addressed  letters  to  all  for  their 
consent.  All  enthusiastically  agreed.  The  idea  flashed 
over  the  whole,  like  the  fire  on  the  prairie.  The  wishes 
which  we  then  expressed,  are  now  carried  out,  in  the 
offering  before  us,  and  the  perfume  of  friendship  which 
they  convey  to  our  old  instructors,  will  be  as  fragrant 
as  the  offering  of  the  spices  in  Persian  temples  to 
the  sun. 

'  Our  thanks  are  likewise  due  to  the  founders  of  this 
institution,  on  which  Heaven  has  smiled.  Some  may 
say  that  deaf  mutes  have  no  gratitude ;  that  they  re- 
ceive favors  as  the  swine  do  the  acorns  of  the  forest 
that  are  shaken  down  for  them ;  but  it  is  not  so.  We 
all  feel  the  most  ardent  love  to  these  gentlemen  who 
founded  this  Asylum,  and  to  these  our  earliest  in- 
structors.    This  gratitude  will  be  a  chain  to  bind  all 


REV.   THOS.   II.   GALLAUDET.  383 

the  future  pupils  together.  Those  who  succeed  us  as 
pupils,  will  be  told  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  they  owe 
to  the  founders  of  the  American  Asylum.  Our  ship, 
moored  by  this  chain  of  remembered  gratitude,  will 
float  safely  hereafter,  and  never  be  wrecked  on  the 
rocks  of  pride  and  envy.  I  close  with  earnest  prayers 
for  the  happiness  of  our  instructors,  both  in  this  world 
and  the  next.' 

The  applause  at  the  conclusion  of  this  address, 
among  the  deaf  mutes,  was  long  and  loud. 

George  H.  Loring,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  formerly  a 
teacher  in  the  Asylum,  in  the  name  and  for  the  behalf 
of  the  old  pupils,  now  presented  the  pitcher  to  Mr. 
Gallaudet.  His  address  was  then  read  to  the  audience 
by  Mr.  Weld. 

Mr.  Loring1s  Address  to  Mr.  Gcdtaudet. 

1  Accept  this  plate,  which  I  offer  to  you  in  the  name 
of  the  subscribers,  former  pupils  of  the  American 
Asylum/ as  a  token  of  their  profound  gratitude  and 
veneration. 

Thirty -five  years  ago,  there  was  no  school  for  the 
education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  country.  They 
had,  for  a  long  time,  been  neglected,  as  their  case  was 
considered  hopeless.        *         *         *         * 

Moved  by  compassion  for  the  deaf  mutes  in  gen- 
eral, and  sustained  by  several  benevolent  persons,  you 
embarked  for  Europe,  and  after  encountering  many 
difficulties,  you  accomplished  the  object  of  your  mis- 
sion in  France.  In  returning  to  America,  you  brought 
back  an  intelligent  and  well  educated  deaf  mute,  for 
your  coadjutor  in  your  labors.     On  this  occasion,  a 


384  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

public  demonstration  of  gratitude,  on  the  part  of  the 
educated  deaf  mutes,  is  due  to  those  benevolent  per- 
sons who  contributed,  by  their  benefactions,  to  the 
establishment  of  the  American  Asylum  in  this  city. 

For  these  blessings  of  education,  we  have  felt  our- 
selves obliged  to  you ;  we  have  long  wished  to  make 
you  some  permanent  testimonial  of  our  gratitude,  and 
have  happily  succeeded  in  getting  one  prepared.  In 
presenting  it  to  you,  we  all  offer  our  earnest  prayers 
for  your  welfare  in  your  declining  years,  and  for  your 
reward  in  the  other  world.' 

Mr.  Gallaudet  then  made  a  reply  to  the  deaf 
mutes,  in  the  sign  language,  a  copy  of  which  he  sub- 
sequently read. 

Mr.  Gallaudefs  reply. 

1  My  former  pupils  and  friends, — I  rejoice  to  meet 
you  once  more.  From  twenty  to  thirty  years  have 
passed,  since  we  were  together  in  the  Asylum  for 
deaf  mutes  in  this  city.  How  happy  you  then  were 
in  receiving  instruction,  and  myself  and  fellow-laborers 
in  imparting  it.  Our  separation  has  been  long.  Some 
of  our  number,  both  teachers  and  pupils,  have  gone 
to  the  spirit  world. 

She  has  gone,  the  beloved  Alice,  my  earliest  pupil, 
who  first  drew  my  attention  to  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
and  enkindled  my  sympathy  for  them.  We  will  ever 
cherish  her  memory,  and  that  of  her  father,  one  of 
your  best  and  long  tried  friends.    *         *         *         * 

What  should  I  have  accomplished,  if  a  kind  provi- 
dence had  not  enabled  me  to  bring  back  from  France 
one  whom  we  still  rejoice  to  see  among  us — himself  a 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET,  385 

deaf  mute,  intelligent  and  accomplished,  trained  under 
the  distinguished  Sicard,  at  that  time  teaching  the 
highest  class  in  the  Paris  Institution — to  be  my  coad- 
j  utor  here  at  home ;  to  excite  a  still  deeper  interest  in 
the  object  to  which  he  came  to  devote  his  talents  and 
efforts ;  to  be  my  first,  and  for  a  time,  only  fellow- 
laborer  in  the  course  of  instruction,  and  then  to  render 
necessary  and  most  efficient  aid  in  preparing  for  their 
work  the  additional  teachers  who  were  needed.  *      * 

You,  in  the  ardor  of  your  generosity,  have  made 
this  occasion.  I  rejoice  in  it,  especially  as  manifesting 
your  heartfelt  attachment  and  gratitude  to  my  old 
friend  and  fellow-laborer.  May  he  long  live  to  enjoy 
this  attachment  and  gratitude,  and  that  of  hundreds 
of  others,  to  whom  he  has  already  been,  or  will  yet 
be,  the  source  of  so  much  benefit. 

As  for  myself,  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  cordial  thanks 
for  the  part  with  which  you  indulge  me,  in  the  touch- 
ing interest  of  the  scene.  I  thank  you  all.  I  thank 
your  committee  individually.  In  him,  from  whose 
hands  I  have  just  received  the  testimonial  of  your 
grateful  regard,  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  pre- 
sent me,  I  recognize  one  of  my  very  earliest  and 
youngest  pupils — one  whom  I  taught  for  a  long  course 
of  years,  and  who  now,  in  the  maturity  of  manhood, 
is  reaping  the  rich  reward  of  his  faithful  use  of  the 
means  of  improvement  which  he  then  enjoyed.  This 
testimonial  of  your  affection  I  shall  ever  cherish  with 
emotions  which  I  cannot  here  express.  As  I  look  at 
it  from  time  to  time,  should  my  life  be  spared  for  a 
few  more  years,  I  shall  think  of  all  the  past  in  which 
you  were  concerned,  with  a  melancholy  pleasure — of 
this  day,  as  standing  out  with  a  strong  and  memorable 
17 


386  LIFE  AND   LABOKS  OF 

prominence,  among  the  days  of  my  earthly  pilgrim- 
age— and  of  you  and  your  fellow-pupils,  with  a  father's 
love.  I  shall  ever  pray  that  God  may  shed  down  upon 
you  his  choicest  blessings,  and  prepare  you,  by  his 
grace  in  Christ  Jesus,  for  the  holiness  and  happiness 
of  heaven.'  *  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  Loring  then,  in  the  same  feeling  manner,  ad- 
dressed Mr.  Clerc,  offering  to  him  a  similar  gift.  This 
address  was  likewise  read  by  Mr.  Weld. 

A  prayer  in  the  language  of  signs  was  then  offered 
by  the  chaplain  of  the  day,  Mr.  Job  Turner,  of  Vir- 
ginia; and  with  this,  the  public  exercises  were  con- 
cluded. 

At  an  early  hour  in  the  evening,  the  deaf  and  dumb 
assembled  at  the  Asylum,  to  spend  a  short  time  in 
social  intercourse,  and  to  partake  of  the  rich  and  plen- 
tiful entertainment  provided  for  them  by  the  officers 
of  the  institution.  They  were  met  by  the  directors 
and  instructors,  with  their  families,  together  with  a  few 
invited  guests,  among  whom,  apparently  not  the  least 
interested  of  the  party,  was  the  Governor  of  the  State. 
More  would  have  been  added  to  the  number,  had  not 
the  capacity  of  the  buildings  prevented  any  additional 
exercise  of  hospitality. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  387 


CHAPTER    II. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  lived  about  a  year  after  the  grati- 
fying recognition  of  services  above  recorded,  and  punc- 
tually discharged  the  duties  of  Chaplain  to  the  Retreat, 
till  he  was  constrained  to  relinquish  them  by  declining 
health,  and  even  after  he  had  become  too  feeble  for 
the  service.  Having  "borne  the  burden  and  heat  of 
the  day,"  he  still  counted  it  a  privilege  to  labor  till 
the  sun  went  down.  His  health  began  sensibly  to  fail 
in  the  spring  of  1851,  and,  as  the  summer  advanced, 
he  often  complained  much  of  exhaustion.  He  strug- 
gled on,  however,  till  the  12th  of  July,  when  he  was 
taken  with  dysentery,  from  the  prostration  of  which 
he  never  recovered,  although,  after  two  weeks,  the 
disease  was  so  much  checked  as,  in  a  good  degree, 
to  allay  the  fears  of  his  family  and  friends.  It  re- 
turned, however,  in  two  or  three  days ;  and  from  that 
time,  for  about  six  weeks,  he  remained  without  any 
decided  change,  except  that  he  grew  weaker.  Still,  as 
he  lingered  so  long,  his  friends  took  courage  that  he 
might  rally  and  recover.  This  was  not  to  be.  He 
had  done  his  work,  and  his  Master  was  coming  to  call 
him  home. 

Through  his  whole  sickness,  in  his  troubled  dreams, 
he  talked  a  great  deal  to  himself  in  the  language  of 
signs,  and  was  able,  in  the  same  way,  to  converse  with 


388  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF 

liis  wife  till  a  few  hours  before  he  expired.  The  Mon- 
day before  he  died,  Judge  ^Yilliams  called  to  inquire 
how  he  was,  and  he  replied,  on  his  fingers,  "  I  hope  I 
am  better."  Sunday  he  complained  much  of  the  heat, 
which  was  extreme.  Wednesday  lie  breathed  with 
difficulty,  and  was  evidently  failing.  This  was  the 
10th  of  September.  About  twelve  o'clock,  he  told 
his  daughter,  who  was  sitting  by  his  bed,  that  he  felt 
better,  took  her  hand,  and,  turning  himself  over,  said, 
"I  will  go  to  sleep."  He  did,  and  it  was  his  last 
sleep.  From  that  position  he  never  moved.  Though 
she  was  fanning  him  at  the  time,  so  quietly  did  he 
breathe  his  last,  that  she  was  not  aware  of  any  change 
till  the  physician  came  into  the  room  and  told  her  he 
was  dead.  He  had  dreaded  the  final  struggle,  but  his 
gracious  Savior  so  ordered  it,  that  it  was  no  struggle 
at  all.  He  was  no  more  conscious  of  the  change,  than 
an  infant  is,  when  it  falls  sweetly  to  sleep  in  the  arms 
of  its  mother. 

In  his  extreme  weakness,  he  said  but  little  during 
his  last  sickness  on  any  subject.  He  did  not,  as  too 
many  Christian  parents  do,  put  off  to  a  dying  bed 
what  he  had  to  say  to  his  children  on  the  subject  of 
personal  religion.  Judging  from  the  tone  of  his  letters 
to  them,  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  most  familiar 
topics  of  instruction  and  exhortation  in  his  family. 
And  what  the  general  tone  of  his  correspondence  with 
them  was,  may  be  inferred  from  the  great  prominence 
of  the  religious  element  in  the  letters  which  I  have 
copied  into  this  volume.  I  hardly  know  what  a  Chris- 
tian father,  anxious  for  the  salvation  of  his  children, 
could  have  said,  more  than  I  have  found  in  this  family 
correspondence.     Every  reader  must  be  struck  with 


I 


REV.   THOS.   H.    CxALLAUDET.  389 

his  reiterated  and  earnest  exhortations  to  them  to 
repentance,  and  faith,  and  consecration  to  Christ- 
Barely,  I  believe,  does  the  religious  element  so  fully 
pervade  the  entire  correspondence  of  parents  with 
their  children.  And  that  religion  was  the  basis  of 
his  own  personal  experience,  is  equally  manifest  from 
the  tone  of  his  letters. 

Though  unexpected,  on  the  day  and  hour  of  his 
exit;  death  did  not  overtake  Mr.  Gallaudet  unprepared 
to  meet  the  summons.  His  life  and  conversation  testi- 
fied, that  he  had  long  been  earnestly  striving  "to 
make  his  calling  and  election  sure."  A  few  hours 
before  he  died,  he  clasped  his  hands  and  offered  a  short 
prayer,  a  part  of  which  only  was  audible.  He  prayed 
for  grace  to  support  him  in  whatever  was  before  him, 
and  then  fell  asleep,  to  wake  up,  as  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  and  find  himself  in  heaven. 

His  funeral,  which  took  place  two  days  after  his 
death,  in  the  South  Congregational  Church  in  Hart- 
ford, was  very  numerously  attended  by  all  classes  of 
citizens,  who  mourned  his  death  as  no  common  loss. 
Portions  of  Scripture  were  read  by  Dr.  Clarke,  prayer 
was  offered,  and  a  short  address  made,  by  Dr.  Hawes. 
The  deaf  mutes  were  there  from  the  Asylum,  and  were 
addressed  by  Dr.  Peet  and  Mr.  Clerc.  Then  the  assem- 
bly sang  a  hymn  and  went  to  the  grave ;  and,  as  the 
coffin  was  let  down  into  its  final  resting  place,  Dr. 
Hawes  quoted  that  beautiful  passage  in  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  Bevelations,  "  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven 
saying  unto  me,  Write,  blessed  are  the  dead  which  die 
in  the  Lord  from  henceforth.  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that 
they  may  rest  from  their  labors  and  their  works  do 
follow  them." 


390  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

Mr.  G-allaudet's  works  follow  him,  and  "he  being 
dead  jet  speaketh,"  in  the  many  instructive  books 
which  he  left  behind  him.  Yea,  and  he  will  speak  to 
other  generations,  as  he  does  now,  in  many  languages. 

The  loss  which  society  and  the  cause  of  religion  had 
thus  sustained  was  duly  commemorated  and  improved 
in  several  churches  of  the  city  on  the  Sabbath  imme- 
diately following.  But  it  was  still  a  very  general  wish 
that  exercises  of  a  more  public  character  should  be 
had,  in  which  the  citizens  of  Hartford  generally  might 
participate. 

In  pursuance  of  a  call  signed  by  thirty  of  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  of  Hartford,  a  preliminary  meeting  was 
held  in  the  Lecture  Room  of  the  Center  Church,  on 
the  evening  of  the  20th  of  October,  1851,  in  reference 
to  the  adoption  of  measures  for  some  public  tribute  of 
respect  to  his  memory. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Governor  Sey- 
mour, and  organized  by  the  appointment  of  Hon. 
Thomas  Day,  Chairman,  and  Luzerne  Rae,  Secretary. 

A  series  of  resolutions  was  presented  by  the  Rev. 
William  W.  Turner,  which,  after  brief  remarks  by 
the  mover,  the  Hon.  Seth  Terry,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bush- 
nell,  and  other  gentlemen,  were  unanimously  adopted. 

Whereas,  It  having  pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  by  death 
the  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  LL.D.,a  resident  of  Hartford  for 
half  a  century,  universally  known  and  not  less  universally  beloved 
and  honored,  both  as  a  private  citizen  and  public  benefactor  : 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  view  of  this  meeting,  the  occasion  is  one 
which  demands  a  more  public  and  particular  recognition,  than 
properly  belongs  to  the  demise  of  an  ordinary  citizen. 

Resolved,  That  the  whole  character  of  the  eminent  and  excellent 
man  whose  death  we  mourn,  commanding,  as  it  did,  our  reverence 
and  admiration  while  he  lived  among-  us,  will  be  long:  remembered, 


REV.   TITOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  391 

now  that  he  is  dead,  as  a  happy  union  of  various  and  often  disu- 
nited qualities  ;  of  Christian  faith  and  philanthropic  works  ;  of 
liberality  without  laxity  ;  of  firmness  without  bigotry  ;  of  sympa- 
thy with  the  vicious  and  the  criminal  in  their  sufferings,  without 
undue  tenderness  toward  vice  and  crime  ;  and  as  furnishing  in  its 
whole  development,  a  beautiful  proof  of  the  possibility  of  meeting 
the  most  rigorous  demands  of  conscience  and  of  God,  and  of  secur- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  the  love  and  respect  of  all  classes  and  con- 
ditions of  men. 

Resolved,  That,  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Gallaudet,  society  has  lost 
one  of  its  brightest  ornaments  ;  the  cause  of  education  a  most  able 
and  faithful  advocate  ;  religion,  a  shining  example  of  daily  devotion 
to  its  principles  ;  the  young,  a  kind  and  judicious  counselor  ;  and 
the  unfortunate  of  every  class,  a  self-denying  and  never-wearying 
friend. 

Resolved,  That  the  noblest  monuments  of  the  deceased  are  already 
erected  ;  and  that  his  name  will  never  be  forgotten,  so  long  as  the 
two  benevolent  institutions,  one  of  winch  received  its  existence 
from  the  labor  of  his  early  manhood,  while  the  other  enjoyed  the 
devoted  services  of  his  later  years,  remain  to  crown  the  beautiful 
hills  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  city. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  this  meeting, 
to  devise  such  measures  as  may  seem  expedient,  in  further  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Gallaudet  ;  and  to  make  all  the  arrange- 
ments necessary  to  carry  these  measures  into  effect. 

In  pursuance  of  the  action  of  this  committee,  the 
following  Public  Services  were  held  in  the  South 
Congregational  Church  on  Wednesday  evening,  Jan- 
uary 7th,  1852. 

CHANT. 

Blessed  are  the  dead,  who  die  in  the  Lodkd  from  henceforth. 
Yea.  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  and 
their  works  do  follow  them. 

Our  days  are  as  a  shadow,  and  there  is  none  abiding ;  we  are 
but  of  yesterday,  there  is  but  a  step  between  us  and  death. 

Man's  days  are  as  grass  ;  as  a  flower  of  the  field,  so  he  flourisheth 


392  LIFE   AND  LABORS   OF 

He  appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away. 

Watch,  for  ye  know  not  what  hour  your  Lord  doth  come. 

Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of 
man  cometh. 

It  is  the  Lord  :  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him  good. 

The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  and  blessed  be 
the  name  of  the  Lord. 

SELECTIONS   FROM   SCRIPTURE. 

BY   REV.  WALTER   CLARKE. 


HYMN. 

BY   MRS.  LYDIA   HUNTLEY   SIGOURNEY. 

We  mourn  his  loss, — who  meekly  walked 

In  the  Ecdeemer's  way, 
And  toiled  the  unfolding  mind  to  shield 

From  Error's  darkening  sway  ; 

Who  strove  through  Nature's  prisoning  shades 

The  hermit-heart  to  reach, 
And  with  philosophy  divine 

To  give  the  silent,  speech  ; 

Who  'mid  the  cells  of  dire  disease 

In  prayerful  patience  wrought, 
And  stricken  and  bewildered  souls 

To  a  Great  Healer  brought. 

Around  his  grave  let  pilgrims  throng, 

And  tears  bedew  his  urn  : 
'Tis  meet  that  for  the  friend  of  all, 

The  hearts  of  all  should  mourn. 

Yet  meet  it  is  our  God  to  praise 

For  his  example  here, 
And  for  his  glorious  rest, — above 

The  trial  and  the  tear. 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  393 


PRAYER. 

BY   KEY.  "WALTER   CLARKE. 

HYMN. 

BY  LUZERNE  RAB. 


EULOGY. 
BY  HENRY  BARNARD. 


DIRGE. 

Paraphrase  of  Collins'  "Hoic  sleep  the  brave  !  " 

.     REY.  THOMAS   H.   GALLAUDET. 


17* 


394  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  following  account  of  the  inauguration  of  the 
beautiful  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Gallaudet,  in  the  grounds  of  the  Asylum  at  Hartford, 
is  condensed  from  the  'Annals  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb." 

"  Perhaps  no  death  was  ever  more  generally  or 
more  sincerely  mourned  than  that  of  Mr.  Gallaudet. 
"Well  known  throughout  the  land  as  a  public  benefac- 
tor, and  equally  recognized  as  a  model  of  excellence 
in  all  the  relations  of  private  life ;  without  an  enemy  in 
any  class,  however  wicked  and  degraded ;  with  a  legion 
of  personal  friends,  made  such  and  kept  such  by  his 
uniform  benevolence  and  urbanity ;  with  the  blessings 
of  those  who  were  '  ready  to  perish '  resting,  like  a 
crown  of  glory,  on  his  beloved  head  ;  equally  familiar 
with  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  high  and  the  low,  the 
ignorant  and  the  learned,  the  obscure  and  the  illustri- 
ous ;  and  equally  honored  by  them  all ;  no  man  on 
earth  has  ever  lived  or  died,  who  could  be  addressed, 
with  a  more  appropriate  application,  in  the  beautiful 
words  of  the  poet, 

1  None  knew  thee,  but  to  love  thee  ; 
None  named  thee  but  to  praise.' 

"Not  long  after  the  death  of  this  excellent  man,  the 
question  began  to  be  agitated  among  the  deaf  and 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  395 

dumb,  (who  have  always  very  justly  looked  upon  him. 
as  their  best  friend  and  benefactor,)  whether  the  duty 
and  the  pleasure  of  erecting  a  suitable  monument  to 
his  memory,  did  not,  with  peculiar  propriety,  devolve 
upon  them.  The  idea  was  no  sooner  suggested,  than 
it  was  seized  upon  with  the  avidity  of  loving  and 
grateful  hearts.  Every  hand  was  ready  to  aid  in  the 
accomplishment  of  the  work.  The  obstacles  and  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  its  performance,  were  swept  aside 
with  a  breath,  and  not  a  doubt  of  final  and  complete 
success  was  permitted,  for  a  moment,  to  embarrass  or 
retard  the  enterprise. 

"  The  individuals  principally  interested  in  the  matter 
arranged  their  plans  of  action  methodically  and  judi- 
ciously. It  was  early  decided  that  none  but  deaf  and 
dumb  should  take  any  part  in  the  proceeding.  Other 
persons  might  honor  Gallaudet  in  other  ways,  but 
this  monument  to  his  memory  should  be  theirs  alone. 
Though  speaking  and  hearing  gentlemen  might  stand 
(as  many  did)  with  their  purses  in  their  hands,  ready 
to  contribute,  to  any  necessary  amount,  for  a  public 
testimonal  of  honor  to  a  man  so  universally  beloved; 
not  a  cent,  nevertheless,  should  go  to  their  treasury, 
from  the  pocket  of  any  other  than  a  deaf  mute. 

"  In  order  to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  their 
design,  some  organization  was  necessary ;  and  accor- 
dingly the  '  Gallaudet  Monument  Association '  was 
formed,  with  Mr.  Clerc  for  its  president,  Agents  were 
appointed  in  the  several  states  of  the  Union,  to  solicit 
the  contributions  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  transmit 
them  to  the  central  committee.  Deaf  mutes,  as  a  gen- 
eral fact,  are  not  a  wealthy  class  of  the  community ; 
and  most  of  the  individual  subscriptions  were  made. 


396  LIFE   AND  LABORS   OF 

therefore,  in  small  sums.  But  no  contributions  were 
rejected  or  despised  on  this  account.  Indeed,  it  is 
one  of  the  pleasant  features  of  the  whole  transaction, 
that  so  large  a  number  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  were 
allowed  to  have  a  personal  share  in  it,  by  the  offer  of 
'  material  aid.'  Thus  the  agreeable  sense  of  ownership, 
however  fractionally  minute  each  one's  particular  por- 
tion might  be,  filled  the  hearts  of  hundreds,  every  one 
of  whom  could  proudly  say,  '  I  helped  to  bring  into 
being  that  beautiful  work  of  art.' 

"  Faithful  to  the  original  determination  that  the  whole 
monument  should  be,  just  as  far  as  possible,  the  exclu- 
sive product  of  deaf  mute  enterprise,  Mr.  Albert  News- 
am,  of  Philadelphia,  a  former  pupil  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Institution,  and  one  of  the  most  skillful  engrav- 
ers and  lithographers  in  the  United  States,  was  re- 
quested to  prepare  a  design  for  the  structure ;  which 
design,  after  full  and  careful  deliberation,  was  adopted. 
But  the  credit  of  the  sculptured  group,  on  the  south 
panel,  (of  which  we  shall  presently  give  a  fuller  de- 
scription,) belongs  to  Mr.  John  Carlin,  of  New  York, 
a  deaf  mute  artist  of  growing  skill  and  reputation. 
The  execution  of  the  work  was  committed  to  Mr. 
James  Gr.  Batterson,  of  Hartford,  (necessarily  depart- 
ing, in  this  single  instance,  from  the  rule  of  limitation 
to  the  deaf  and  dumb,)  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  performed,  reflects  the  highest  credit  upon  himself, 
his  workmen,  and  especially  his  sculptor,  Mr.  Argenti. 

"  The  monument  consists,  first,  of  &  platform  of  Quincy 
granite,  six  feet  ten  inches  square  and  ten  inches  thick. 
The  plinth,  is  also  of  granite,  six  feet  square  and  one 
foot  thick.  The  marble  base  is  five  feet  three  inches 
square,  and   eighteen   inches  thick,  richly  moulded. 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  39? 

The  die  consists  of  four  panels,  the  south  one  containing 
a  bas-relief,  (designed,  as  already  stated,  by  Mr.  Carlin,) 
which  constitutes  altogether  the  most  attractive  feature 
of  the  monument.  Mr.  Gallaudet  is  represented  in 
the  act  of  teaching  little  children  the  manual  alphabet. 
Three  children  are  presented,  two  boys  and  one  girl, 
and  the  execution  of  their  faces  and  forms  is  very 
beautiful.  The  artist  has  succeeded  remarkably  well 
in  transferring  to  the  stone,  the  features  of  Mr.  Grallau- 
det  and  the  expression  of  his  countenance. 


"  On  the  north  panel  the  name  Gallaudet,  in  the 
letters  of  the  manual  alphabet,  is  inscribed  in  bas-relief. 
On  the  east  panel  is  the  following  inscription : 


THOMAS    HOPKINS    GALLAUDET,  LL.D. 

BORN    IN    PHILADELPHIA, 

DECEMBER    10,  1787, 

DIED    IN    HARTFORD, 

SEPTEMBER    10,    1851. 

AGED    SIXTY-FOUR    YEARS. 


And  on  the  west  panel  is  the  following : 


398  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF 

ERECTED   TO   THE  MEMORY   OF 

REV.    THOMAS    HOPKINS    GALLAUDET,  LL.D. 

BY   THE    DEAF    AND    DUMB 

OF   THE   UNITED    STATES, 

AS   A   TESTIMONIAL 

OF   PROFOUND    GRATITUDE 

TO   THEIR 

EARLIEST   AND    BEST  FRIEND, 

AND    BENEFACTOR. 

"  The  die  is  surmounted  by  a  cap,  upon  which  rests 
the  base  of  the  column,  which  is  two  feet  six  inches 
square,  the  column  rising  to  the  height  of  eleven  feet. 
Upon  the  south  side  of  the  column,  surrounded  by 
radii,  is  the  Syriac  word  '  Ephphatha ' — that  is,  '  be 
opened;'  which  was  spoken  by  our  Savior  when  he 
caused  the  dumb  to  speak  and  the  blind  to  see.  The 
band  which  connects  the  two  blocks  of  the  main  col- 
umn, is  encircled  with  a  wreath  of  ivy,  the  type  of 
immortality;  and  the  column  itself  is  crowned  with 
an  ornate  capital,  surmounted  by  a  globe.  The  whole 
height  of  the  monument  is  twenty  feet  and  six  inches. 
It  is  inclosed  with  a  handsome  iron  fence,  with  granite 
posts. 

11  Both  in  design  and  execution,  this  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  monuments  of  its  kind,  in  the 
United  States  ;  worthy  of  the  noble  name  which  it  is 
raised  to  honor.  Its  whole  cost  was  about  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars. 

"At  ten  o'clock,  on  Wednesday  morning,  September 
6th,  the  large  assemblage,  consisting  of  deaf  mutes 
from  every  quarter  of  the  Union,  and  numerous  citi- 
zens of  Hartford  and  its  vicinity,  were  called  to  order 
by  the  Kev.  Mr.  Turner,  the  Principal  of  the  Asylum, 
and   an   oral   prayer  was   offered   by  the   Kev.  Joel 


REV.   THOS.    IT.   GALLAUDET.  399 

Hawes,  D.D.,  from  the  front  steps  of  the  Institution. 
This  was  followed  by  a  written  address  from  Professor 
Laurent  Gere,  of  the  Asylum,  the  President  of  the 
1  Monument  Association.'  Mr.  Gere's  address  was 
read,  for  the  benefit  of  those  not  acquainted  with  the 
language  of  signs,  by  Mr.  0.  D.  Cooke,  formerly  an 
instructor  of  the  Institution,  but  now  a  resident  of 
Xew  York  city. 

"Its  concluding  paragraph  was  as  follows  : 
u  'Mr.  Gallaudet  labored  till  the  autumn  of  1830, 
when,  to  our  great  sorrow,  ill  health  compelled  him  to 
resign.  He  was  a  good  man.  His  physiognomy  was 
the  type  of  his  goodness  and  mildness.  In  his  manners 
and  conduct  there  was  nothing  affected.  He  had  the 
wisdom  becoming  a  man  of  his  age  and  profession.  He 
was  not  ambitious,  nor  mercenary.  He  was  contented 
with  what  he  received.  His  forte,  however,  was  not 
the  dexterous  management  of  the  perplexing  business 
matters  of  so  large  an  Institution;  the  school-room 
was  the  true  arena  for  the  display  of  his  great  abilities 
and  greater  affections.  He  made  good  scholars,  many 
of  whom  we  are  happy  to  see  here,  expressing  with 
tearful  eyes  their  gratitude  to  him,  who  first  brought 
them  to  speak  and  hear.  No  bigot  was  he,  although 
strict  in  his  religious  persuasions.  He  was  not  too 
denunciatory  of  others'  faults ;  for  so  persuaded  was 
he,  that  genuine  repentance  can  only  come  through 
the  grace  of  God,  that  he  loved  to  pray  for  sinners 
rather  than  to  reprove,  when  reproof  only  served  to 
irritate.  AVe  therefore,  saw  nothing  in  his  piety  but 
what  ministered  to  our  improvement  and  edification. 
His  mind  was  well  cultivated.  His  knowledge  was 
extensive,  and  taste  so  correct,  that  in  his  usual  conver- 


400  LIFE   AXD   LABORS   OF 

sation  there  appeared  to  be  nothing  but  good  taste  and 
correct  reasoning.  When  in  discussion  with  others, 
he  was  deep  as  the  sea,  smooth  as  oil,  and  adroit  as 
Talleyrand.  Methinks,  we  are  under  vast  obligations 
to  such  a  man,  who  knew  how  to  say  thousands  of 
fine  things,  but  was  always  willing  to  say  common 
ones,  in  order  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  capacity 
of  those  with  whom  he  talked.  No  person  knew  bet- 
ter how  to  speak  to  others,  of  what  he  himself  knew, 
and  of  what  he  knew  would  please  his  listeners.  He 
was  a  man  of  uprightness  and  equity.  Neither  great- 
ness, nor  favor,  nor  rank,  could  seduce  or  dazzle  him. 
In  a  word,  he  was  one  of  the  best  men  who  ever  lived ; 
benevolent,  obliging  and  kind  to  everybody.  No 
wonder,  therefore  that  he  was  beloved  by  all  the  deaf 
and  dumb.' 

"  The  Hon.  Henry  C.  Deming,  Mayor  of  the  city  of 
Hartford,  next  came  forward,  and  read  a  list  of  articles 
to  be  deposited  in  the  monument,  and  delivered  an  ad- 
mirable address;  after  which  the  assembly  changed 
their  ground  ;  repairing  to  the  north  side  of  the  build- 
ings, where  a  platform  had  been  constructed  for  the 
speakers  and  benches  for  the  audience.  Here  Mr.  Clerc 
delivered,  by  signs,  the  address  which  had  been  pre- 
viously read  by  Mr.  Cooke  :  which  done,  he  introduced 
the  orator  of  the  day,  Mr.  John  Carlin,  of  New  York. 
Then  commenced  a  somewhat  peculiar  exhibition. 
While  Mr.  Carlin  addressed  his  deaf  mute  audience,  in 
graceful  and  graphic  signs,  Prof.  I.  L.  Peet,  of  the  New 
York  Institution,  simultaneously  read  the  same  address 
to  those  who  had  '  ears  to  hear.'  With  but  one  ora- 
tion, there  were  two  audiences  and  two  orators,  both 


KEY.   TITOS.    II.    GALLAUDET.  401 

proceeding  side  by  side,  at  the  same  time  and  place, 
without  the  least  mutual  hindrance  or  interference. 

11  We  give  but  a  few  fragments  of  Mr.  Carlin's 
Oration : 

'"Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

1  This  day — the  sixth  of  September,  a  day  to  be  re- 
membered— has  come,  and  we  are  on  this  occasion  to 
witness  the  consummation  of  our  work.  "We  now  be- 
hold there  standing  in  graceful  proportions  the  Monu- 
ment, reared  to  the  memory  of  the  First  (next  to  our 
own  illustrious  Washington)  in  the  hearts  of  the  deaf 
mutes  of  America — Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet. 
It  is  a  substantial  testimonial  of  our  deep  gratitude  for 
his  disinterested  labors  in  promoting  our  mental  and 
religious  welfare,  and  of  our  high  appreciation  of  his 
sterling  worth. 

*  As  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  the 
first  monument  in  the  world  that  has  ever  been  erected 
by  a  community  exclusively  deaf  and  dumb,  how  ex- 
quisite is  the  satisfaction,  with  which  we  look  upon 
ourselves  as  its  founders  1  What  a  source  of  gratifica- 
tion flowing  through  our  veins  while  we  contemplate 
this  glorious  result  of  our  silent  labors,  commenced 
and  accomplished  within  so  short  a  time  !  Conscious 
as  we  may  feel  of  its  unassuming  dimensions  and 
moderate  cost,  let  us  congratulate  ourselves  upon  our 
promptitude  in  raising  up  to  the  public  gaze  this  sym- 
metrical marble  pile,  to  demonstrate  the  truth  that 
our  (the  deaf  mutes')  warm  hearts  are  not  destitute  of 
one  of  the  brightest  virtues  of  man — Gratitude  !  Oh, 
may  the  fact  that  it  is  our  own  work,  devised  and 
supervised  by  our  minds — once  darkened,  but  now  dis^ 


402  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

enthralled  from  the  horrible  meshes  of  ignorance — en- 
hance the  value  of  our  Institutions  in  the  eyes  of  th  e 
public. 

1  My  mute  friends.  What  deeds  of  the  soul  were 
perpetuated  by  Dr.  Gallaudet  so  as  to  deserve  this 
grateful  tribute  ?  Was  he  an  eminent  statesman,  who 
on  our  national  senatorial  floor,  coped  with  the  Great 
Trio,  Clay,  Calhoun  and  Webster;  flinging  upon 
their  heads  his  vivid  thunderbolts  of  forensic  elo- 
quence? No!  he  was  too  gentle  in  disposition,  too 
modest,  to  venture  into  that  great  political  arena.  Was 
he  then  a  military  genius,  leading  our  little  band  of 
brave  men  victoriously  from  Palo  Alto  to  Buena  Vista, 
or  from  the  impregnable  castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa, 
overlooking  sullenly  Vera  Cruz,  to  the  ancient  halls 
of  Montezuma  ?  0  no !  he  was  too  much  of  an 
evangelical  messenger  of  God,  blessed  with  a  most  fra- 
ternal heart,  to  relish  the  sight  of  human  blood  shed 
on  the  gory  battle-ground,  where  rise,  as  Thayer  the 
poet  writes — 

'  Slowly  on  the  burdened  air, 
Mingled  groans  of  wounded,  dying, 

Screams  of  madness  and  despair  ; 
Cries  of  widows  and  of  orphans, 

Fathers',  mothers',  sisters'  wail 
O'er  the  mangled,  bloody  corses, 

Crushed  beneath  that  iron  hail. 

{  Nay,  his  achievements  were  of  the  pure  benevolence, 
which,  in  a  philosophical  sense,  were  equal  to  those  of 
Zachary  Taylor  and  Winfield  Scott  in  promoting  the 
glory  of  our  Kepublic. 

'Before  Dr.  Gallaudet,  whose  soul  was  penetrated 
with  the  vital  importance  of  the  mission  imposed  upon 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALIiAUDET.  403 

his  willing  shoulders,  embarked  for  Europe,  to  acquaint 
himself  with  the  mysteries  of  deaf-mute  instruction,  all 
the  deaf  mutes  of  this  country  were  ignorant  heathen! 
Their  minds  were  desolately  blank!  How  vacantly 
their  eyes  wandered  over  the  printed  letters  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  !  In  truth,  they  were  absolutely 
isolated  from  society,  even  in  the  midst  of  civilization. 
But  when  he,  in  his  return  home  with  the  precious 
knowledge  of  the  art  in  his  keeping,  landed  on  his 
native  shores,  Ignorance,  who  hitherto  wielded  her 
gross  sway  over  the  minds  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  was 
startled  at  his  unexpected  arrival,  and  retreated  scowl- 
ing all  the  time  before  the  steady  approach  of  Enlight- 
enment !  The  desponding  parents  wiped  their  tears, 
and  looked  with  swelling  gratitude  for  the  blessed  day 
their  unfortunate  children  might  be  sent  to  his  school ! 
His  landing  here  on  the  sixth  of  August,  1816,  was 
the  epoch,  as  glorious  as  it  was  memorable,  of  our 
deliverance  from  the  degradation  to  which  we  were 
unavoidably  consigned. 

'  Blessed  be  his  name,  which  he  bequeathed  to  us — 
to  be  chiseled  in  our  manual  alphabet  on  this  monu- 
ment! Oh,  let  his  memory  be  cherished  constantly 
in  our  hearts,  and  those  of  the  mutes  of  succeeding 
generations  !  May  more  institutions  be  produced  with 
all  possible  dispatch,  one  or  more  in  each  state,  accord- 
ing to  the  capacity  of  its  legislature  to  maintain  their 
existence,  and  more  thousands  of  benighted  souls  be 
thereby  enlightened  and  brought  to  the  footstool  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  Dr.  Gallaudet  adored  with  the 
childlike  simplicity  and  humility  of  a  sincere  Christian. 

1  Whence  came  that  philanthropic  spirit  ?  To  be 
sure,  from  the  pure  heart  of  the   modest  man  who 


404  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF 

opened  the  first  normal  school  for  mutes  on  this  conti- 
nent, in  South  Main  Street,  Hartford !  Then,  need  I 
here  asssert  that  that  glory  accrued  to  the  states  from 
his  (Dr.  Gallaudet's)  love  for  deaf  mutes  ?  Yet,  instead 
of  ever  claiming  that  glory  as  his  own,  how  beauti- 
fully his  genuine  piety  gleamed  through  the  dark 
clouds  of  despondency,  when  he  penned  in  his  diary 
while  at  London,  the  following  words  :  '  To  Almighty 
God,  as  the  giver  of  all  good  through  Jesus  Christ,  I 
commend  myself,  and  my  undertaking.  He  is  able 
to  do  all  things  for  me,  and  if  success  finally  crowns 
my  efforts,  to  Him  he  all  the  glory  ! ' 

'There  is  one  deed  of  Dr.  Gallaudet's  soul,  which 
must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  though,  it  is  true,  it  was  not 
achieved  on  our  behalf.  On  his  retiring  from  his 
laborious  duties  in  the  American  Asylum,  by  no 
means  adequate  to  his  naturally  delicate  constitution, 
he  became  a  Chaplain  to  the  Insane,  at  their  lovely 
Eetreat  near  this  city,  he  having  declined  advantage- 
ous offers  of  ministry.  His  gentleness  of  nature,  his 
perpetual  geniality  of  spirits,  his  equanimity  of  mind, 
and  his  earnestness  and  seriousness  of  heart  in  relig- 
ious matters,  qualified  him  admirably  for  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel  at  such  a  place  where,  in  a  state  of  being 
which  none  can  ever  relish, 

Dwell  men  and  women,  'reft  of  blessed  reason  ; 
In  direful  ravings  of  insanity. 

'  It  would  surely  have  warmed  your  hearts,  had  you 
been  eye-witnesses,  as  I  fortunately  was  once,  to  see 
that  truly  good  man  moving  with  the  freedom  and 
composure  of  an  old,  valued  friend,  along  the  corridor 
in  the  female  department,  shaking  hands  most  heartily 


EEV.   THOS.    n.   GALLAUDET.  405 

with  the  crazed  women  who  were  occasionally  found 
therein — 

In  steps  so  slow  and  spectral  gliding, 
While  their  mad  ravings  were  subsiding — 

and,  with  genuine  benevolence  beaming  from  his  large, 
projecting  eyes,  breathing  forth  .balsam-like  words  of 
comfort  that  evidently  stole  in  and  touched  their 
hearts — ever  and  anon  cracking  innocent  jokes,  at 
which  the  poor  beings  simpered,  and  he  rejoined  to 
their  vacant  simper  with  a  good-natured  laugh,  ren- 
dering his  characteristic  dimples  deeper ! 

1  Whilst  we  move  in  our  pilgrimage  toward  the 
Valley  of  Death,  let  us  look  back  always  to  the  day 
we  have  been  here,  and  contemplate  with  pleasing 
emotions  the  virtues  and  benevolence  of  the  American 
Abbe  de  TEpee,  to  whose  memory  our  hearts  have 
been  concentrated  in  this  modest  yet  graceful  Monu- 
ment ! ' 

"  Other  speeches  followed  from  Prof.  Gamage  and 
Prof.  Thomas  Gallaudet  of  the  New  York  Asylum,  Mr. 
Thomas  Brown  and  Governor  Dutton,  and  the  literary 
exercises  of  the  day  were  finished.  A  collation  pre- 
pared by  the  thoughtful  hand  of  the  matron  of  the 
Institution,  of  which  six  hundred  deaf  mutes  partook, 
with  other  guests,  followed. 

"  Thus  ended  the  celebration  that  had  been  so  long 
looked  for ;  and  as  far  as  we  are  informed  it  ended 
with  perfect  satisfaction  to  everybody.  All  the  happy 
anticipations  that  had  been  so  long  indulged,  were  at 
last  fully  realized.  The  day  was  pleasant,  and  nothing 
happened  to  interrupt  the  general  enjoyment.     Old 


•±06  LIFE  AND  LABOES   OF 

friends  came  together  for  the  first  time  after  a  separa- 
tion of  a  great  many  years.  Every  one  found  some 
old  acquaintance,  a  class-mate  or  school-mate,  with 
whom  to  pass  congratulations  or  exchange  sympathy. 
Every  one  was  happy,  and  the  sixth  of  September,  1854, 
will  be  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  shared 
in  its  joyous  festivities." 

This  occasion,  so  novel,  so  touching,  so  happily 
conceived,  and  so  well  sustained,  can  never  be  for- 
gotten by  the  grateful  pilgrims,  who  came  from  far,  as 
well  as  near,  to  set  up  the  cenotaph  which  they  them- 
selves had  devised  and  paid  for,  to  perpetuate,  in  solid 
marble,  the  memory  of  him  who  had,  as  it  were,  un- 
stopped their  deaf  ears,  loosed  their  silent  tongues,  and 
poured  the  light  of  knowledge  and  salvation  into  the 
dark  prison-house  of  their  immortal  minds.  Though 
there  are  far  more  costly  monuments  than  that  which 
greets  the  eyes  of  admiring  thousands  as  they  approach 
the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  upon 
that  beautiful  eminence  in  the  city  of  Hartford,  how 
few  are  at  once  so  graceful  and  so  truthful,  in  their 
sculptured  emblems  and  epitaphs  !  And  how  prompt, 
I  had  almost  said,  the  more  than  filial  reverence  and 
gratitude,  which  moved  the  hearts  of  the  silent  throng, 
to  gather  to  their  Alma  Mater,  and  raise  this  lasting 
memorial  of  him  whom  "they  delight  to  honor." 

Where  was  ever  a  great  warrior,  or  public  bene- 
factor, so  soon  and  so  heartily  honored  by  the  lofty 
column  of  chiseled  marble  or  granite?  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  had  to  wait  some  twenty  years  for  his 
epitaph,  under  the  dome  of  the  Invalides.  Even  our 
Washington,  (we  believe,)  had  no  cenotaph  or  statue, 
in  any  part  of  the  land  which  he  had  done  so  much 


KEV.   THOS.    H.   GALLAUDET.  407 

to  save,  till  a  great  many  years  after  his  decease.  The 
statue  of  General  Warren  has  only  just  now  been  set 
up  on  Bunker  Hill.  And  where,  to  this  day,  is  the 
humblest  marble  to  show  us  the  graves  of  some  of  the 
great  men  of  the  nation  ?  *  Even  the  Pilgrim  fathers, 
who  have  been  dead  more  than  two  centuries,  have 
yet  no  public  monument  to  tell  where  they  landed, 
and  were  buried  in  hidden  graves,  to  protect  them 
from  Indian  sacrilege. 

But  here,  a  private  citizen,  a  humble,  unobtrusive 
Christian  philanthropist,  toils  and  dies,  and  is  hardly 
laid  to  rest  ere  the  grateful  recipients  of  his  instruc- 
tions gather  around  his  tomb,  from  the  East  and  the 
AVest,  from  the  North  and  the  South,  and,  at  their 
own  expense,  poor  as  most  of  them  are,  erect  a 
monument  of  their  own  devising,  which,  for  sym- 
metry, grace,  and  beauty,  can  scarcely  be  matched  by 
any  other,  though  of  the  most  ambitious  pretensions. 

0,  it  was  a  gathering,  it  was  an  ovation,  never  to  be 
forgotten  by  the  silent  throng  of  loving  children  and 
pupils,  who  came  with  their  offerings  to  honor  their 
revered  father  and  beloved  teacher,  and  to  perpetuate 
his  memory.  Though  they  could  neither  hear  nor 
speak,  they  had  the  warmest  hearts  in  their  bosoms, 
and  their  memorial,  ever  to  be  silent  like  themselves, 
will  transmit  this  filial  gratitude  to  distant  generations. 

This  Memoir,  which  now  draws  to  a  close,  has  of 
itself  spoken,  all  along,  in  language  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, of  the  high  order  of  talents  and  their  rich 
cultivation;  of  the  exuberant  philanthropy,  the  emi- 

*  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Hancock,  and  Samuel  Adams. 


408 


LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 


nent  usefulness,  the  humble  piety,  and  the  extraordi- 
nary influence  of  the  man  whose  life  and  character  it 
holds  up  to  view.  He  was  a  man  for  the  times.  He 
was  wanted,  and  worthily  did  he  act  his  part.  Others 
who  were  associated  with  him,  and  knew  him  better 
than  the  compiler  of  this  memorial,  have  kindly 
allowed  him  to  avail  himself  of  extracts  from  their 
estimation  of  his  character  and  life  labors,  and  perhaps 
nothing  more  need  be  added.  Sure  I  am  that  but  few 
biographers  could  collect  higher  testimonials,  from  so 
many  quarters,  than  those  which  have  come  to  my 
hands.  But  extracts  from  these,  which  cannot  in 
justice  be  withheld,  must  not  wholly  exclude  the 
reflections,  which  the  gathering  and  selection  of  ma- 
terials for  this  volume  from  a  great  mass  of  manuscripts 
have  begotten,  and  which  claim  the  privilege  of  some 
brief  utterance,  at  least. 

Whether  Mr.  Grallaudet  should  be  regarded  as  a 
great  man,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
philanthropists,  depends  upon  the  question  in  what 
true  greatness  consists.  The  term  admits  of  more 
than  one  meaning.  The  deepest  channel  is  not  of 
course  the  greatest  river.  There  may  be  as  much 
water,  or  more,  in  one  that  spreads  itself  out  over 
a  wide  surface,  and  laves  the  shores  of  many  beau- 
tiful islands,  and  irrigates  all  the  meadows  in  its 
leisurely  overflowings,  as  in  the  deep  impetuous  tor- 
rent, that  struggles  and  foams  in  the  rapids,  and  shakes 
the  earth  with  its  muffled  thunder  as  it  leaps  head- 
long over  the  precipice.  So  there  may  be  as  much 
talent  in  a  man  who  spreads  himself  out  over  a  wide 
surface,  and  cheers  and  refreshes  suffering  humanity 
by  his  personal  ministrations,  and  puts  in  motion  a 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  409 

thousand  springs  of  benevolent  enterprise,  as  in  a  man 
who  concentrates  the  powers  of  his  mind  upon  one 
object,  moves  on  in  one  beaten  path,  and  reaches  any 
of  the  high  pinnacles  of  human  renown.  Because  he 
excels  all  his  cotemporaries  in  that  one  thing,  the 
popular  notion  and  verdict  is,  that  he  is  the  greatest 
man ;  when  those  whom  he  looks  down  upon  might, 
perhaps,  even  have  eclipsed  him  by  a  like  concentra- 
tion of  their  powers,  but,  by  throwing  themselves  into 
the  wide  current  of  human  sufferings  to  be  mitigated, 
and  human  interests  to  be  promoted,  have  done  in- 
finitely more  good. 

We  are  not  anxious  to  enrol  the  name  of  Glallaudet 
with  those  whom  the  world  delights  most  to  honor. 
It  would  be  a  low  ambition  in  his  friends,  and  the 
thousands  who  have  been  blessed  by  his  philanthropic 
labors,  his  wise  counsels,  and  the  ripe  fruits  of  the 
talents  and  attainments  which  he  has  bequeathed  to 
the  young  in  his  writings.  In  the  best  sense  of  the 
term,  he  was  a  great  man.  He  had  talents  of  a  high 
order.  He  could  have  placed  himself  in  the  first  rank 
of  living  mathematicians ;  he  could  have  made  him- 
self a  renowned  linguist ;  he  could  have  taken  a  high 
rank  with  the  best  preachers  of  his  day.  In  other 
departments  of  the  higher  calendars  of  human  attain- 
ments, he  might  have  distinguished  himself,  had  he 
chosen.  But  his  mission  was  to  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  affliction ;  to  the  deaf  and  the  dumb ;  to  the 
insane ;  and  to  the  children  of  every  class,  who  have 
been  charmed,  and  will  be  charmed  and  instructed  by 
his  juvenile  publications.  If  to  be  an  eminent  bene- 
factor of  the  most  unfortunate  and  neglected  of  his 
race,  is  to  be  great,  then  was  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  a 
18 


410  life  and  labors  of 

great  man.  But  no  matter.  He  was  a  good  man,  with, 
a  great  overflowing  heart.  His  philanthropy  was  no 
spring  freshet,  to  be  dried  np  in  the  summer,  but  a 
perennial  fountain,  always  refreshing  wherever  the 
stream  flowed.  He  was  a  good  man — full  of  faith, 
abounding  in  charity  and  good  works,  and  his  record 
is  on  high. 

It  is  extremely  rare  to  find  constitutional  repellencies 
so  balanced  and  harmonized  in  the  human  mind  that 
neither  gains  the  ascendancy.  One  or  the  other  is 
almost  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  prevail.  When  a  man 
feels  himself  strongly  attracted  in  one  direction,  and 
with  nearly  equal  force  in  the  opposite,  it  is  commonly 
found  hard,  even  next  to  impossible,  to  move  steadily 
on  between  the  two,  without  being  drawn  aside  either 
to  the  right  hand  or  the  left.  If  he  can  do  it,  he  is 
one  of  a  thousand.  Without  claiming  that  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet  gained  a  perfect  control  of  himself  in  this  re- 
gard, those  who  knew  him  best  will  testify  that  they 
have  known  very  few  who  came  so  near  to  it.  While 
he  was  strongly  conservative  in  principle  and  action,  he 
was,  at  the  same  time,  remarkably  progressive.  While 
in  general  he  thought  the  old  paths  safest,  and  was 
jealous  of  innovations  and  novel  theories,  he  was 
always  ready  to  hear  whatever  might  be  said  in  their 
favor.  He  thought  there  were  great  and  long  estab- 
lished principles,  from  which  it  was  not  safe  to  swerve; 
that  there  were  old  foundations  which  ought  not  to  be 
disturbed.  But,  so  far  was  he  from  obstinately  ad- 
hering to  old  fossilized  notions  and  habits,  that,  as  I 
have  just  said,  he  was  eminently  progressive.  He  was 
so  far  from  falling  behind,  that,  in  many  things,  he  was 
in  advance  of  his  age.     He  did  not  believe  that  the 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  411 

nighest  practicable  improvement  had  been  made  in 
any  branch  of  education,  or  in  any  of  the  great  be- 
nevolent enterprises  of  the  day.  In  this  respect  he 
was  never  satisfied  with  the  present,  but  was  always 
looking  forward  and  striving  for  something  better. 
Progress,  progress,  was  his  motto.  "  What  more  can 
be  done  to  perfect  the  system  of  education  in  our  deaf 
^nd  dumb  asylums  ?  What  improvement  can  be  made 
in  the  management  of  our  insane  hospitals  ?  How  can 
our  schools  and  other  seminaries  be  raised  to  the  high 
standard  which  the  advance  and  exigencies  of  the  age 
demand  ?  What  more  can  be  done  for  the  moral  and 
religious  instruction  of  the  young?" 

These  were  questions  which  the  subject  of  this 
Memoir  deeply  pondered,  in  all  their  momentous  bear- 
ings. No  man  was  more  ready  to  cooperate  with  the 
friends  of  humanity,  education,  and  religion,  in  their 
onward  progress,  than  he  was;  and  not  seldom,  as 
they  themselves  testified,  were  they  stirred  up  and 
stimulated  to  action  by  his  earnest  and  persuasive 
arguments.  If  you  had  any  new  plan  to  propose,  you 
must  convince  him  that  it  was  right,  that  it  promised 
some  good  and  desirable  end,  and  that  it  was  practi- 
cable, and  you  were  sure  of  him.  In  a  word,  Mr. 
Gallaudet  was  at  once  so  conservative,  that  nothing 
but  strong  reasons  and  convictions  could  move  him ; 
and  so  progressive,  that  it  was  sometimes  hard  keeping 
up  with  him. 

Moreover,  when  he  had  once  set  his  heart  upon  any 
benevolent  enterprise,  or  object  to  be  accomplished,  he 
had  very  uncommon  powers  of  persuasion.  He  was 
so  unassuming,  so  manifestly  disinterested,  so  ready  to 
hear  objections,  and  so  skillful  in  obviating  them,  that 


412  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  bring  over  men 
to  his  views  who  were  at  first  doubtful,  if  not  opposed ; 
and  what  shows  the  great  confidence  they  had  in  his 
judgment  and  executive  talents  was,  that  when  any 
new  institution  was  to  be  got  up,  he  was  the  man  first 
thought  of  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  it.  Again  and 
again  we  find,  in  the  correspondence,  appeals  like 
these :  "  We  regard  the  establishment  of  such  a  school. 
or  seminary  as  of  great  importance,  and  you  are  the 
man  to  make  it  succeed.  You  must  come.  If  we 
cannot  secure  your  services,  at  least  for  a  time,  the 
whole  will  fall  through.  It  is  an  enterprise  of  your 
own  suggestion,  and  you  must  not  let  it  fail."  We 
have  seen  that  Mr.  Gallaudet  had  a  great  many  such 
urgent  invitations,  between  the  time  when  it  was  un- 
derstood that  his  failing  health  would  compel  him  to 
leave  the  Asylum,  and  when  he  accepted  the  chap- 
laincy of  the  Eetreat,  which  office  he  held  till  death 
closed  his  earthly  labors. 

In  his  manners  and  address  Mr.  Gallaudet  was 
every  where  a  true  gentleman.  Some  men,  when  in 
company  with  their  inferiors,  assume  a  sort  of  patron- 
izing air,  to  make  themselves  agreeable ;  but  he,  never. 
He  instinctively  shrank  from  it,  as  unworthy  of  his 
character  and  standing,  and  had  the  good  sense  to 
know  that  it  was  more  likely  to  lower  than  to  raise 
him  in  the  estimation  of  persons  of  any  discernment. 
He  had  a  mild,  but  keen  eye,  and  a  beaming,  benig- 
nant countenance.  He  could  unbend  himself  and  be 
facetious,  in  familiar  company  and  on  suitable  occa- 
sions, when  he  chose.  He  had  genuine  wit,  but  he 
rarely  used  it ;  and  when  he  did,  it  was  so  keen  that 
it  gave  no  pain,  or  if  it  ever  did,  it  was  so  momen- 


REV.    TIIOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  413 

tary  that  the  very  slight  wound  healed  by  the  first 
intention. 

I  might  mention  other  mental  traits  and  amiable 
personal  characteristics,  which  endeared  Mr.  Gallaudet 
to  his  friends,  and  secured  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  all  who  knew  him.  But  I  shall  only  point  the 
readers  of  this  Memoir,  and  especially  the  young  men, 
to  the  brightest  star  in  the  galaxy,  which,  we  doubt 
not,  is  to  shine  on  for  ever  in  a  still  higher  sphere — I 
mean  his  personal  piety.  It  is  not  claimed  that  he 
was  a  perfect  man,  except  in  the  subordinate  scriptural 
sense  of  that  term.  We  do  not  say  that  the  central 
star  always  shone  with  equal  luster.  But  it  seems  to 
me,  that  no  intimate  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Gallaudet, 
embracing  his  whole  life  and  labors,  and  no  candid 
reader  of  his  correspondence  and  other  writings  in  this 
biography,  can  doubt,  that  he  was  what  he  professed 
to  be,  a  sincere  and  humble  follower  of  his  Master, 
"who  went  about  doing  good."  " By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."  Simplicity  and  godly  sincerity; 
love  to  Christ  and  his  cause,  and  love  to  man,  were 
shining  traits  in  his  character  till  the  sun  went  down  ; 
and  who  can  doubt,  that,  through  rich  and  free  grace, 
he  has  gone  up  to  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever? 

Here  I  might  close  the  volume.  But  I  should 
do  injustice  to  my  sense  of  what  is  due  to  the  memory 
of  so  distinguished  a  philanthropist,  so  eminent  a 
public  benefactor,  and  so  good  a  man,  if  I  were  not  to 
allow  at  least  a  little  more  space  than  I  have  done,  to 
his  associates  and  other  discriminating  judges  of  his 
worth,  who  have  spoken  of  him  out  of  the  fullness  of 
their  hearts. 


414  LIFE   AND   LABOES   OF 

On  the  seventh  of  January,  1852,  a  discourse  in 
commemoration  of  the  life,  character,  and  services  of 
the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  delivered  at  Hartford, 
upon  the  invitation  of  the  citizens  of  that  place,  by  the 
Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  whose  name  is  associated,  in 
both  hemispheres,  with  those  far-extending  and  suc- 
cessful efforts  for  the  promotion  of  education,  in  the 
largest  sense,  and  for  the  elevation  upon  higher  planes 
of  life,  of  the  great  masses  of  men,  which  so  illustrate 
our  advancing  civilization. 

I  cannot  deny  myself  the  privilege  of  enriching  this 
imperfect  tribute  to  the  memory  of  a  wise  and  good 
man,  with  a  few  extracts  from  this  discourse,  marked 
as  it  is  throughout  with  fine  discrimination,  apprecia- 
tive feeling,  and  all  its  author's  characteristic  elegance 
of  expression. 

"  Through  the  agency  and  cooperation  of  many  others, 
it  was  Mr.  Grallaudet's  higher  distinction  to  have  found- 
ed an  institution,  and  by  its  success,  to  have  led  the  way 
to  the  establishment  of  already  thirteen*  other  institu- 
tions, by  which  thousands  of  this  unfortunate  class  have 
already  been  rescued  from  the  doom  of  ignorance  and 
isolation  from  their  kind ;  and  tens  of  thousands  more, 
instead  of  remaining  ignorant,  lonely,  and  helpless,  will 
yet  be  introduced  to  the  boundless  stores  of  human  and 
divine  knowledge,  to  the  delights  of  social  intercourse, 
to  a  participation  in  the  privileges  of  American  citizen- 
ship, to  such  practical  skill  in  useful  mechanical  and 
commercial  business,  and  even  the  higher  walks  of 
literature,  science,  and  the  fine  arts,  as  will  enable  them 
to  gain  an  honorable  livelihood,  by  their  own  personal 

*  There  are  now  twenty. 


KEY.    TITOS.    H     GALLAUDET.  415 

exertions,  and  in  fine,  to  all  the  duties  and  privileges 
of  educated  Christian  men  and  women,  capable  not 
only  of  individual  usefulness  and  well-being,  but  of 
adding,  each,  something  to  the  stock  of  human  happi- 
ness, and  of  subtracting  something  from  the  sum  of 
human  misery. 

"  But  he  was  not  only  the  successful  teacher  in  a  new 
and  most  difficult  department  of  human  culture,  he 
was  a  wise  educator  in  the  largest  acceptation  of  that 
word,  the  early  and  constant  friend  of  the  teacher  in 
every  grade  of  school,  the  guide  and  counselor  of  the 
young,  the  untiring  laborer  in  every  work  of  philan- 
thropy, the  Christian  gentleman,  and  the  preemi- 
nently good  man.  And  this  truly  great  and  good 
man  was  our  own  townsman,  and  neighbor,  and  friend. 
Here  was  the  field  of  his  useful  and  benevolent  labors ; 
here  stands,  and  will  stand,  the  institution  which  he 
founded,  and  with  which  his  name  will  be  associated 
for  ever.  Here  in  our  daily  walks,  are  the  men  and 
women  whom  his  labors  have  blessed;  here  are  the 
children  and  youth,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  silence, 
and  but  for  him,  of  sorrow,  who  have  come  here  to 
this  "house  of  mercy,"  which  he  founded — to  this  pool 
of  Bethesda,  whose  waters  will  possess  the  virtue  of 
healing  so  long  as  its  guardians  labor  in  his  spirit ; 
here  the  beauty  of  his  daily  life  fell  like  a  blessing  on 
the  dusty  turmoil  of  our  busy  and  selfish  pursuits. 

11  From  this  field  of  his  benevolent  labor ;  from  these 
public  charities,  in  whose  service  he  spent  so  large  a 
part  of  his  life  ;  from  his  family,  where  he  had  gather- 
ed up  his  heart's  best  affections  of  an  earthly  sort ; 
from  his  daily  round  of  neighborly  and  benevolent 
offices,  it  has  pleased  God  to  remove  him  by  death. 


416 


LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 


And  although  the  funeral  obsequies  have  long  since 
been  performed,  and  the  winds  of  winter,  which  ever 
reminded  him  of  the  claims  of  the  poor,  are  now  sigh- 
ing their  requiem  over  his  last  resting-place,  to  which 
we  followed  him  in  the  first  month  of  autumn — Ave,  his 
fellow  citizens,  neighbors  and  friends,  have  come  to- 
gether to  devote  a  brief  space  to  the  contemplation  of 
his  life,  character  and  services.  Our  commemoration 
of  such  a  man  cannot  come  too  late,  or  be  renewed 
too  often,  if  we  go  back  to  our  various  pursuits,  with 
our  faith  in  goodness  made  strong,  and  our  aims  and 
efforts  for  the  welfare  of  our  fellow-men  purified  and 
strengthened.  But  whatever  we  may  do,  or  omit  to 
do,  for  his  broadly  beneficent  life  and  sublime  Chris- 
tian virtues,  the  world  will  add  one  other  name  to  its 
small  roll  of  truly  good  men  who  have  founded  insti- 
tutions of  beneficence,  and  lifted  from  a  bowed  race 
the  burden  of  a  terrible  calamity. 

"  As  illustrating  the  spirit  of  the  man,  and  especi- 
ally the  spirit  of  trust  in  God,  the  looking  to  his 
grace  for  help  in  all  his  undertakings,  the  following 
extracts  are  taken  from  a  journal  in  which,  during  bis 
early  connection  with  the  Asylum,  he  was  accustomed 
to  enter,  from  time  to  time,  his  progress  and  private 
aspirations. 

"  '  Sunday,  January  25,  1818.  I  am  now  surround- 
ed with  thirty-one  pupils.-  Mr.  Clerc  has  been  ten 
days  absent  on  a  visit  to  Washington.  During  the 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  opening  of  the  Asy- 
lum, I  have  had  to  encounter  great  trials.  Now  I  am 
quite  exhausted  in  health  and  strength.  0!  that 
God  would  appear  for  me,  and  make  haste  to  help  me. 
If  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  long  but  for  one  kind  of 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  417 

happiness,  that  of  zealous  and  cheerful  activity  in 
doing  good.  I  have  of  late  begun  to  ponder  a  good 
deal  on  the  difficulty  of  my  continuing  to  be  the  prin- 
cipal of  such  an  establishment,  as  this  with  which  I  am 
now  connected  will  probably  be.  Most  gladly  would 
I  hail  as  my  superior  here,  and  as  the  head  of  this 
Asylum,  some  one  of  acknowledged  piety  and  talents, 
and  of  more  force  of  character  than  myself.  Alas! 
how  is  my  energy  gone !  How  I  shrink  from  difficul- 
ties! Oh  Almighty  God!  in  thy  wise  providence 
thou  hast  placed  me  in  my  present  situation.  Thou 
seest  my  heart.  Thou  knowest  my  desire  is  to  be  de- 
voted to  thy  service,  and  to  be  made  the  instrument 
of  training  up  the  deaf  and  dumb  for  heaven.  0 ! 
turn  not  a  deaf  ear  to  nry  regrets.  0  !  raise  me  from 
this  bodily  and  intellectual  and  religious  lethargy, 
which  has  now  so  long  prostrated  all  the  energies  and 
deadened  the  affections  of  my  soul !  0 !  show  me 
clearly  the  path  of  duty,  and  teach  me  more  submission 
to  thy  holy  will,  more  self  denial  and  humility — more 
penitence  and  perseverance !  0  !  grant  me  some  in- 
dication of  thy  favor  and  thy  love.  0 !  touch  the 
heart  of  my  dear  friend  Clerc  with  godly  sorrow  for 
sin,  and  with  an  unfeigned  reliance  on  Jesus  Christ. 
O !  lead  my  dear  pupils  to  the  same  Savior.  O ! 
God  forsake  me  not.  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy 
presence.     Take  not  thy  holy  Spirit  from  me.' 

"  Again,  a  few  years  later,  the  following  entry  was 
made: 

"  '  As  connected  with  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  I  do  hope  to  feel  anxious  to  discharge  my 
duties  in  the  fear  of  God.  I  invoke  his  grace  to  quali- 
fy me,  and  I  renewedly  consecrate  myself,  soul,  spirit, 
18* 


418 


LIFE   AND   LABOKS   OF 


and  body,  to  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  beseech 
God  to  guard  me  against  all  concern.  (1st.)  About 
my  own  temporal  concerns.  0  !  may  I  be  led  to  take 
no  thought  in  this  respect  for  the  morrow,  but  to  leave 
God  to  furnish  me  with  what  temporal  comforts  he 
may  see  best  for  me,  and  not  ever  form  my  plans  for 
pecuniary  emolument.  (2ndly.)  Against  all  undue 
anxiety  respecting  the  management  of  the  Asylum  by 
its  directors.  0 !  may  I  have  a  meek,  quiet,  uncom- 
plaining spirit  with  regard  to  all  that  they  may  do, 
however  unwise  it  may  seem  to  be  according  to  my 
poor,  weak,  fallible  judgment.  May  I  strive  each  day 
to  do  all  the  good  I  can  to  the  souls  of  my  dear  pupils, 
and  calmly  resign  every  thing  which  lies  out  of  my 
own  immediate  sphere  of  duty  into  the  hand  of  Him 
who  will  overrule  all  things,  however  adverse  they 
may  seem,  for  his  own  glory.  (3dly.)  Against  all  un- 
charitable feelings  against  any  who  are  associated  with 
me  in  the  internal  management  of  the  Asylum.  May 
I  rather  be  careful  to  examine  my  own  heart  and  con- 
duct, and  consider  how  far  shall  I  fail  of  doing  my 
duty  conscientiously  and  zealously.  (4thly.)  Against 
any  regard  to  public  opinion,  while  I  have  the  appro- 
bation of  my  own  conscience.  (5thly.)  Against  the 
corruption  of  my  own  heart,  and  my  daily  besetting 
sins.  0 !  for  grace  to  gain  an  entire  victory  over 
them,  and  to  be  conformed  in  all  things  to  the  blessed 
example  of  Jesus  Christ.  0  God  !  I  implore  the  aid 
of  thy  divine  Spirit  to  assist  me  in  all  these  respects, 
and  to  thy  name  shall  be  all  the  glory,  through  Jesus 
Christ.     Amen  and  Amen.' 

"I  presume   it  is  safe  to  say  that    Mr.  Gallaudet 
never  rose  in  the  morning  without  having  in  his  mind 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  419 

or  on  his  hands,  some  extra  duty  of  philanthropy  to 
perform — something  beyond  what  attached  to  him 
from  his  official  or  regular  engagements.  His  assist- 
ance was  asked  whenever  an  appeal  was  to  be  made 
to  the  public,  in  behalf  of  a  benevolent  or  religious 
object,  which  required  the  exercise  of  a  cultivated  in- 
tellect, the  impulses  of  a  benevolent  heart,  and  the 
personal  influence  cf  a  character  confessedly  above  all 
political  and  sectarian  principles. 

"  There  is  scarcely  an  institution  or  movement 
among  us,  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  education,  or 
the  relief  of  suffering  humanity,  which  did  not  enjoy 
the  benefit  of  his  wise  counsel,  or  receive  his  active  co- 
operation. 

"  He  was  among  the  most  earnest  to  call  attention, 
in  conversation,  through  the  press,  and  in  educational 
meetings,  to  the  whole  subject  of  female  education, 
and  especially  to  the  more  extensive  employment  of 
females  as  teachers.  His  hopes  for  the  regeneration  of 
society,  and  especially  for  the  infusion  of  a  more  refined 
culture  in  manners  and  morals,  into  the  family,  and 
especially  into  common  schools,  rested  on  the  influence 
of  pious  and  educated  women  as  mothers  and  teachers. 

"In  1837,  the  county  of  Hartford,  through  the  ex- 
ertions mainly  of  Alfred  Smith,  Esq.,  erected  a  prison 
on  a  plan  which  admitted  of  a  classification  of  the 
prisoners,  of  their  entire  separation  at  night,  of  their 
employment  in  labor,  under  constant  supervision,  by 
day,  and  of  their  receiving  appropriate  moral  and  re- 
ligious instruction.  Mr.  Gallaudet  sympathized  warmly 
with  this  movement,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  means 
at  the  disposal  of  the  county  commissioners  to  employ 
the  services  of  a  chaplain  and  religious  teacher,  volun- 


420 


LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 


teered  to  discharge  these  duties  without  pay.  He  con- 
tinued to  perform  religious  service  every  Sabbath 
morning  for  eight  years,  and.  to  visit  the  prison  from 
time  to  time  during  each  week,  whenever  he  had 
reason  to  suppose  his  presence  and  prayers  were  par- 
ticularly desired.  In  such  labors  of  love  to  the  crimi- 
nal and  neglected,  unseen  of  men,  and  not  known,  I 
presume,  to  twenty  individuals  in  Hartford,  the  genu- 
ine philanthropy  and  Christian  spirit  of  this  good 
man  found  its  pleasantest  fields  of  exercise. 

"  To  appreciate  the  character  and  value  of  his  services 
as  chaplain,  both  in  the  county  jail  and  the  Eetreat, 
he  should  have  been  seen  and  heard ;  and  especially 
at  the  Eetreat,  not  only  in  his  regular  religious  teach- 
ings on  the  Sabbath,  and  in  evening  worship,  but  in 
his  daily  visitation  among  the  dim  and  erratic  in  soul, 
and  his  intercourse  with  their  friends  and  relatives, 
who  were  sorrowing  over  the  wreck  of  domestic  joys 
and  hopes.  How  simple  and  wise  were  his  instruc- 
tions— how  surely  did  his  kindness  open  the  closed 
doors  of  their  affections — how  like  the  dew  distilled  his 
words  of  consolation — how  like  the  notes  of  David's 
harp  on  the  unquiet  spirit  of  Saul,  fell  the  tones  of  his 
voice  over  those  whose  thoughts,  it  seemed  but  a  mo- 
ment before,  could  not  rest  or  be  comforted ! 

"  His  conversational  powers  were  remarkable,  and  he 
never  failed  to  interest  all  who  came  into  his  society. 
To  a  command  of  language,  at  once  simple  and  felici- 
tous, he  added  a  stock  of  personal  reminiscences,  drawn 
from  a  large  acquaintance  with  the  best  society  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe — a  quick  sense  of  the  beautiful 
in  nature,  art,  literature,  and  morals, — a  liveliness  of 
manner — a  ready  use  of  all  that  he  had  read  or  seen, 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  421 

and  a  real  desire  to  make  others  happy,  which  made 
his  conversation  always  entertaining  and  instructive. 
He  was,  besides,  a  good  listener — always  deferential  to 
old  and  young,  and  could  have  patience  even  with  the 
dull  and  rude.  With  children  he  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful, winning  their  confidence  by  his  kind  and  benev- 
olent manner,  and  gaining  their  attention  by  the  sim- 
plicity and  pertinency  of  his  remarks.  He  seemed  in 
society  as  in  the  world,  to  make  it  a  matter  of  principle 
'to  remember  the  forgotten,'  and  thus  to  draw  the 
old  and  retiring  into  the  circle  of  the  regards  and  at- 
tention of  others. 

"  He  was  methodical  in  the  transaction  of  business 
to  an  extent  rarely  found  in  men  of  literary  habits. 
This  was  partly  the  result  of  his  home  training,  and 
partly  of  his  experience  in  the  counting  room  and  com- 
mercial affairs.  It  was  a  favorite  theory  of  his,  that 
every  boy,  before  entering  college  or  a  profession, 
should  have  at  least  one  winter's  experience  in  a  store, 
and  one  summer's  training  on  a  farm. 

"He  was  punctual  in  all  his  engagements.  He 
thought  it  was  neither  just  or  Christian  to  make  ap- 
pointments, and  then  break  them  on  any  plea  of  con- 
venience or  forgetfulness. 

"  His  benevolence  was  of  that  practical,  universal, 
and  preventive  sort,  that  it  can  be  followed  by  every 
body,  every  day,  in  something;  and  if  followed  by 
every  body,  and  begun  early,  and  persevered  in,  would 
change  the  whole  aspect  of  society  in  a  single  genera- 
tion. It  began  with  the  individual,  each  man  and 
woman  and  child,  by  making  the  individual  better. 
It  worked  outward  through  the  family  state,  by  pre- 
cept and  example,  and  above  all  by  the  formation  of 


422 


LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF 


habits,  in  every  child,  before  that  child  had  become 
hardened  into  the  guilty  man  and  woman.  It  operated 
on  every  evil  by  remedies  specifically  adapted  to  meet 
its  peculiarities.  It  promoted  each  good  by  agencies 
trained  for  that  special  work.  It  looked  to  God  for 
his  blessing,  but  its  faith  in  God's  blessing  was  made 
sure  by  its  own  diligent  works. 

u  Mr.  Gallaudet  wras  emphatically  the  friend  of  the 
poor  and  the  distressed.  He  did  not  muse  in  solitude 
on  human  misery,  but  sought  out  its  victims  and  did 
something  for  their  relief.  There  was  a  womanly 
tenderness  in  his  nature,  which  was  touched  by  the 
voice  of  sorrow,  whether  it  came  from  the  hovel  of 
the  poor,  or  the  mansion  of  the  rich.  His  benevolence 
wras  displayed  not  simply  in  bestowing  alms,  although 
his  own  contributions  were  neither  few  or  small  ac- 
cording to  his  means ;  not  simply  as  the  judicious 
almoner  of  the  bounties  of  others,  although  no  man 
among  us  was  more  ready  to  solicit  pecuniary  sub- 
scriptions and  contributions,  (not  always  the  most 
agreeable  or  acceptable  business  in  the  range  of  be- 
nevolent action,)  or  give  the  necessary  time  to  the 
judicious  application  of  the  means  thus  raised;  not 
simply  by  prayers,  earnest  and  appropriate,  in  the 
home  of  mourning  ;  but  by  the  mode  and  the  spirit  in 
wThich  he  discharged  these  several  duties. 

"  The  least  we  can  do  to  prove  ourselves  worthy  of 
possessing  his  name  and  example  among  the  moral 
treasures  of  our  city  and  state,  is  to  cherish  the  family, 
the  objects  of  his  tenderest  solicitude  and  care,  which 
he  has  left  behind  him  ;  and,  by  some  fit  memorial,  to 
hold  in  fresh  and  everlasting  remembrance  his  deeds 
of  beneficence  to  us  and  our  posterity  for  ever.     The 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  423 

ashes  of  such,  a  man,  in  whose  character  the  sublimest 
Christian  virtues  ceased  to  be  abstractions,  if  his  mem- 
ory is  properly  cherished,  will,  like  the  bones  of  the 
prophet,  impart  life  to  all  who  come  in  contact  there- 
with. The  ingenuous  youth  of  our  city  should  be  led, 
by  some  memorial  of  our  gratitude  for  his  services,  to 
study  his  life,  till  its  beauty  and  spirit  shall  pass  into 
their  own  souls,  and  flow  out  afresh  in  their  own  acts 
of  self-denying  beneficence." 

One  of  Mr.  Gallaudet's  most  intimate  friends,  whose 
familiar  companionship  of  twenty  years  enabled  him 
to  read  daily  his  transparent  inward  life — the  Eev. 
Horace  Hooker — thus  speaks  of  the  Christian  ele- 
ment in  his  character : 

11  Religion  was  so  interwoven  into  the  whole  charac- 
ter of  Mr.  Gallaudet,  that  we  can  rightly  estimate  it 
only  in  connection  with  the  entire  web.  Some  men, 
and  good  men  too,  as  Ave  must  regard  them,  appear 
not  the  same  in  their  religious  aspect  as  in  business,  or 
in  social  scenes ;  but  it  may  be  truly  and  emphatically 
said  of  him,  that  his  religious  life  was  his  whole  life. 
In  the  expressive  title  of  one  of  his  own  volumes,  he 
was  an  every-day  Christian.  There  was  nothing  fitful 
in  his  piety :  it  was  of  the  same  evenness  and  sym- 
metry which  marked  the  other  parts  of  his  character. 
It  was  not  a  succession  of  oases  around  springs  in  a 
desert,  linked  together  by  long  tracts  of  sandy  waste ; 
but,  fed  by  principle,  it  found  its  resemblance  in  the 
verdure  which  borders  on  an  ever-running  brook. 

"  His  religion  was  beneficence,  where  good  was  to  be 
done  or  kindness  shown.  It  was  honesty,  exact  and 
scrupulous,  where  business  was  to  be  transacted  be- 


424  LIFE  AND  LABOES   OF 

tween  him  and  his  fellow  men.  It  was  conscientious- 
ness, where  the  rights  of  others  were  involved  in  Lis 
plans  or  Iris  acts.  It  was  self-denial,  where  the  wants 
of  the  poor  and  the  unfortunate  required  not  only  an 
outlay  of  time,  but  solicitations  sometimes  painful  to 
make,  in  gaining  the  cooperation  of  others.  It  was 
courtesy,  where  it  was  often  difficult  to  reconcile  the 
claims  of  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  discharge 
of  pressing,  indispensable  engagements.  It  was  hu- 
mility towards  God,  showing  itself  in  a  deep  sense  of 
unworthiness.  It  was  penitence,  when  human  weak- 
ness yielded  to  temptation — penitence  sincere,  abiding, 
and  fruitful,  in  meet  works.  It  was  cordial  trust  in 
the  atonement  of  a  divine  Redeemer — not  leading  to 
carelessness,  but  exciting  prayerful  efforts  to  transfer 
the  grace  of  that  Redeemer's  character  to  his  own. 
It  was  hope — not  now  of  noonday  glare,  and  now  of 
midnight  gloom,  but  hope  ever  uniform  and  stedfast, 
though  sometimes  bedimmed  with  a  passing  cloud. 
It  was  joy,  not  buoyant,  like  that  of  the  new  born 
soul,  or  triumphant,  like  that  of  the  martyr.  ISTo  one 
acquainted  with  his  mental  characteristics,  his  habitual 
moderation,  his  almost  excessive  caution,  his  keen  in- 
sight into  character,  his  close  scrutiny  of  his  feelings, 
would  look  in  his  bosom  for  joys  like  these.  But  to 
joy  such  as  flows  from  beneficent  acts,  such  as  the 
peace  of  God  imparts  to  the  contrite  spirit,  such  as  a 
hope  of  casting  off  human  weakness,  and  mingling, 
through  grace,  among  the  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus  in 
a  higher  life,  inspires,  to  such  joy  he  was  no  stranger. 
"  He  had  a  deep  reverence  for  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
and  exalted  views  of  their  influence  in  controlling  and 
purifying   the  human  mind.     As   an   instrument  of 


REV.    TITOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  425 

government  in  the  family,  and  in  society,  no  one  held 
them  in  higher  estimation.  His  religions  sentiments 
were  those  commonly  denominated  Evangelical.  He 
loved  to  regard  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  in  their  sim- 
plicity ;  and  though  as  capable  as  most  amongst  us  of 
metaphysical  speculations,  in  which  he  would  some- 
times indulge  in  conversation  with  his  intimate  friends, 
he  fell  back  on  the  Bible  in  its  obvious  meaning  for 
the  support  of  his  hope  and  his  quickening  in  the 
religious  life.  Though  a  firm  believer  in  the  necessity 
of  supernatural  aid  to  train  man  for  heaven,  he  ever 
urged  the  serious,  regular,  prayerful  observance  of 
divine  institutions  and  means  of  moral  improvement. 
On  the  moulding  power  of  these  he  relied  for  forming 
the  Christian  character,  rather  than  on  any  measures 
of  mere  human  devising. 

"Both  from  principle  and  native  temperament,  he 
was  charitable  in  his  estimate  of  the  opinion  of  others  ; 
but  when  the  occasion  demanded,  he  was  ready  cour- 
teously and  firmly  to  defend  his  own.  The  respect 
with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  religious  of  every 
name,  shows  that  this  striking  trait  of  his  character 
was  duly  appreciated. 

"To  an  unusual  extent,  he  associated  this  world,  its 
scenes,  its  occupations,  its  influences,  with  a  future 
existence ;  regarding  the  habits,  both  intellectual  and 
moral,  which  we  form  on  earth,  as  entering  with  us 
into  that  state.  lNim  omnis  moriarj  all  of  me  will 
not  die,  was  an  unfailing  quickener  of  his  zeal  in  pre- 
paring to  perform  in  another  life  an  agency  of  benevo- 
lence, pure,  ceaseless,  self- satisfying,  eternal.  And 
who  can  doubt,  that  in  some  part  of  God's  wide  em- 
pire, his  happy  spirit  is  now  ministering  to   'them 


426  LIFE  AND  LABOES   OF 

who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,'  or  planning  schemes 
of  beneficence,  which  earth's  intellect  cannot  conceive, 
or  earth's  resources  execute  ?  " 

I  am  permitted,  by  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Peet,  the 
distinguished  President  of  the  New  York  Institution 
for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  to  make 
one  or  two  extracts  from  the  eloquent  tribute  prepared 
by  him  at  the  request  of  the  Directors  of  that  asylum. 

"  The  wisdom  of  Mr.  Grallaudet  is  strikingly  shown 
by  the  high  ground  on  which  he  placed  his  school  at 
the  outset.  Many  of  the  European  charitable  institu- 
tions for  deaf  mutes  had  begun  on  the  scale  of  an 
establishment  for  paupers,  making  it  impossible,  in 
most  cases,  to  secure  teachers  of  talent  and  education, 
by  which,  indeed,  the  same  amount  of  funds  was  made 
to  serve  for  the  relief  of  a  much  greater  number  of 
objects,  but  the  actual  benefit  to  each  was  diminished 
in  a  still  greater  proportion. 

"  The  founders  of  the  Asylum  at  Hartford  took  the 
juster  and  wiser  view,  that  the  interests  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb  in  both  worlds  were  too  high  to  be  entrusted 
to  any  but  men  of  superior  character  and  intellect,  and 
that  the  appointments  of  the  Asylum  should  be  such 
as  to  make  it  a  pleasant  home,  and  not  a  sort  of  prison 
for  American  youth.  They  began,  therefore,  by  making 
it  a  boarding  school  of  the  better  class,  making  no 
distinction  between  their  pupils,  and  the  event  has 
amply  justified  their  course.  Many  indigent  and  de- 
serving pupils  were  necessarily  excluded  at  first  for 
want  of  means,  but  legislative  bodies  soon  assumed 
the  patronage  of  these,  and,  in  the  end,  all  enjoyed  a 
much  more  thorough  and  beneficial  education  than 


REV.   THOS.   II.    GALLAUDET.  427 

if  the  charity  of  the  first  founders  of  the  institution 
had  been  diluted  to  make  it  reach  further. 

"The  system  of  instruction,  derived  from  that  of 
Sicard,  was  still  greatly  modified  and  improved  by 
his  own  judgment  and  experience,  especially  in  omit- 
ting many  of  those  syntactic  processes,  once  admitted, 
but  now  condemned  on  all  hands  as  at  least  unneces- 
sary. He  was  indeed  happy  in  the  uncommon  capacity 
of  some  of  his  earlier  pupils,  and  in  the  ability  of  most 
of  his  early  associates ;  but  then  he  developed  the 
former,  and  chose  the  latter.  The  fact,  that  all  the 
schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  founded  in  this  country 
for  many  years,  either  at  the  outset  obtained  teachers 
qualified  under  his  care,  or,  if  they  started  on  a  dif- 
ferent method,  were  soon  constrained,  by  public  opin- 
ion, to  apply  to  his  school  for  teachers,  evinces  a  pre- 
vailing belief  in  the  excellence  of  his  system,  due,  not 
less  to  the  moral  and  religious  tone  of  his  school,  than 
to  the  superiority  of  its  intellectual  results. 

"As  a  teacher,  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  mainly  distin- 
guished for  the  clearness  and  perspicuity  with  which 
he  could  unfold  even  complex  and  elevated  ideas  in 
pantomime  intelligible  to  the  youngest  and  dullest  of 
his  pupils.  Even  the  particles,  and  grammatical  in- 
flections of  language,  which  so  much  embarrass  an 
ordinary  teacher,  acquired  clearness  and  significance 
in  his  signs;  and  this  facility  led  him  to  disregard 
regularity  of  method  in  introducing  the  difhculties  of 
language  to  a  greater  degree  than  less  gifted  teachers 
would  find  safe.  But  it  was  in  his  religious  lessons 
that  his  power  was  most  manifested.  First  of  all 
teachers  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  he  established  for  his 
pupils  the  regular  worship  of  God,  including  prayer, 


428  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF 

praise,  instruction,  and  exhortation,  in  the  only  lan- 
guage which  can  be  made  intelligible  to  the  mass  of 
an  assembly  of  deaf  mutes — the  only  language,  also, 
which,  even  with  well  educated  deaf  mutes,  goes  most 
directly  to  the  understanding,  the  conscience,  and  the 
heart.  And  the  greatest  triumph  of  his  method  was 
in  the  clearness  with  which  he  could  unfold,  to  pupils 
of  a  few  weeks'  standing,  the  new  and  startling  ideas 
of  immaterial  existence,  Grod  and  immortality. 

"For  thirteen  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet  found  a  congenial  and  appropriate  field  for  his 
unwearied  benevolence,  as  Chaplain  of  the  Hartford 
Retreat  for  the  Insane.  The  religious  influences  which 
he  had,  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  previous  teacher, 
been  enabled  to  wield  in  softening  the  hearts,  quelling 
the  evil  passions,  and  expanding  at  once  the  intellect 
and  affections  of  the  most  wild  and  uncultivated  among 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  he  now  sought  to  exercise  for  the 
benefit  of  the  yet  more  wretched  victims  of  insanity; 
and  the  result  showed,  that  even  where  all  the  powers 
of  reason  are  wrecked,  religious  feelings  can  still  be 
awakened,  to  minister  balm  to  a  mind  diseased,  and 
soothe  into  solemn  stillness  the  wild  passions  of  an 
assembly  of  maniacs. 

"  Not  the  least  interesting  circumstance  of  his  life 
was  his  marriage  to  a  deaf  mute  young  lady,  who  had 
been  one  of  his  earliest  pupils.  This  lady,  perhaps 
the  first  deaf  mute  who  became  the  chosen  companion 
of  a  man  of  intellect  and  superior  education,  approved 
herself  well  worthy  of  his  choice,  and,  by  her  pleas- 
ing manners  and  exemplary  life  and  walk,  not  less 
than  by  the  sons  and  daughters  she  reared,  who,  hap- 
pily exempt  from  their  mother's  calamity,  inherited 


REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  429 

the  best  traits  of  their  father's  character,  has  contribu- 
ted, in  no  small  degree,  to  give  interest  and  dignity, 
and  brighter  prospects  in  life,  to  her  once  smitten 
companions  in  misfortune. 

11  The  ruling  traits  ox  Mr.  Grallaudet's  character 
were  deep  piety  and  sincere  benevolence.  But  his 
religion  was  not  a  religion  of  forms  and  ceremonies ; 
and,  though  a  Congregationalist  himself,  he  was  yet 
ever  ready  cordially  to  unite  with  men  of  other  de- 
nominations in  all  measures  tending  to  the  advancement 
of  human  happiness  and  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

"  Courteous  in  his  manners,  and  possessing  conver- 
sational powers  of  a  high  order,  his  social  influence 
was  great,  and  his  personal  friends  many  and  warm. 

"  To  sum  up  this  brief  and  imperfect  sketch  of  his 
character,  by  measuring  it  by  the  standard  of  his 
greatest  achievement,  the  cause  of  deaf  mute  education 
in  this  country  owes  its  rapid  advancement,  and  the 
early  and  firm  hold  it  has  taken  on  public  sympathy, 
in  no  small  measure  to  the  lofty  disinterestedness,  and 
the  moral  elevation  which  he  gave  to  every  enterprise 
in  which  he  took  part,  doing  every  thing  so  evidently 
and  solely  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  love  to  all 
men." 

Some  of  the  characteristics  of  our  lamented  friend 
are  well  expressed  in  the  following  extract  from  an 
article  in  "The  Christian  Examiner,"  of  July,  1852: 

"  There  are  two  or  three  points  of  Mr.  Gallaudet's 
character  on  which  we  cannot  forbear  dwelling  awhile; 
and  as  the  first,  because  at  the  root  of  his  varied  excel- 
lence, we  mention  his  religious  faith. 

"There  are  those,  doubtless,  to  whom  this  phrase 


430  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

brings  only  vague  images,  and  intimates  most  uncer- 
tain results.  But  not  if  the  thing  it  signifies  were  a 
solid  substance  before  the  eye,  or  a  ball  of  lead  within 
the  hand,  could  it  be  a  more  palpable  reality  than  as 
it  appeared  in  Mr.  Gallaudet's  character.  It  was  the 
pulsation  of  his  heart.  It  was  the  inspiration  of  his 
life.  We  have  never  known  one  who  cast  himself 
with  a  more  grateful  and  joyous  trust  into  a  reliance 
on  the  Creator's  will.  Among  the  manifest  facts  of  his 
daily  experience,  which  shaped  his  judgment,  affected 
his  sensibilities,  determined  his  conduct,  the  fact  of  an 
overruling  Providence  was  real  and  decisive ;  not  theo- 
retically established,  but  instinctively  felt.  His  doc- 
trinal opinions  were  orthodox,  and  not  only  this,  but 
thoroughly  and  rigidly  orthodox ;  of  a  stamp  too  in- 
flexible, perhaps,  for  the  full  approval  of  what  is  some- 
times called  the  New  England  school  of  Evangelical- 
ism. Yet,  strange  to  say,  this  strict  theology  was,  in 
Mr.  Gallaudet,  divorced  from  almost,  if  not  quite,  all 
those  accompaniments  so  repulsive  to  minds  and  hearts 
trained  under  a  more  liberal  system  of  Scripture  inter- 
pretation. We  have  said,  this  is  strange;  for,  in  the 
instance  of  our  revered  friend,  his  doctrinal  views 
were  not  loosely  held,  or  lightly  prized,  or  believed  to 
be  other  than  vitally  operative.  He  never  said  and  he 
never  felt,  that  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  believes, 
provided  he  is  sincere ;  that  common  cant  of  spurious 
liberalism.  So  that  the  unwriokled  beauty,  the  unem- 
bittered  sweetness  of  his  Christian  character  and  affec- 
tions, are  not  due  to  the  fact,  that  he  was  indifferent 
to  the  'saving  doctrines'  of  the  Gospel. 

"Mr.  Gallaudet's  religion  lay,  not  in  the  forms  of  his 
faith,  but  below  them.     They  constituted  the  espalier 


REV.   THOS.   H.   GALLAUDET.  431 

upon  which  his  devout  instincts  climbed  upwards ;  but 
the  root  of  his  religion  lay  in  the  soul,  not  the  intellect; 
and  its  nourishment  came  not  from  the  artificial  trellis 
work  of  church  decrees,  but  from  the  soil  of  the  New 
Testament  truth.  '  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them,' 
was  a  favorite  text  with  him,  and  it  furnished  the 
canon  by  which  he  estimated  personal  worth,  and  the 
value  of  private  belief. 

"Another  feature  of  Mr.  Gallaudet's  character,  and 
one  which  requires  to  be  distinctly  set  forth,  was  his 
benevolence.  If  the  history  of  much  of  the  nominally 
benevolent  action  and  public  service  of  men  were  read 
in  the  light  of  the  Divine  judgment,  we  fear  that  a  sad 
adulteration  of  reputedly  Christian  motives  would  ap- 
pear. If,  among  the  mainsprings  of  our  nature,  that 
coil,  a  desire  of  human  applause,  a  regard  for  the  esti- 
mation of  the  world,  should  lose  its  temper  and  exert 
no  further  force  upon  individual  effort,  what  a  prodig- 
ious collapse  would  there  be  in  services  for  private 
or  public  good !  If  the  hope  of  pecuniary  recompense 
were  stricken  from  among  the  inducements  to  philan- 
thropic action,  how  many  humane  efforts  would  be 
abandoned !  If  there  were  no  such  operative  sentiment 
as  a  desire  to  'be  somebody,1  in  some  sort  of  work,  or 
to  find  scope  for  one's  energies  in  a  sphere  not  repug- 
nant to  one's  kindly  impulses,  and  not  over  crowded 
with  competitors,  the  field  of  benevolent  action  would 
be  still  further  and  materially  abridged. 

"  Necessarily,  the  directions  of  the  benevolence  of  a 
man  so  sagacious  and  so  experienced  as  Mr.  Gallaudet, 
were  manifold,  and  the  occasions  of  its  exercise  were 
constant.  The  great  work  of  popular  education  enlist- 
ed all  his  sympathies,  and  the  aid  of  all  his  powers. 


432  LIFE  AND   LABORS  OF 

With  the  author  of  the  l-  Theory  of  Human  Progres- 
sion,' he  believed  that  'knowledge,'  including,  of  course, 
moral  and  religious  knowledge,  '  is  the  only  means  given 
to  man  to  evolve  correct  action,  and  that  correct  action 
is  the  only  means  whereby  man  can  evolve  a  correct, 
and  consequently  beneficial  condition.'  Normal  schools 
engaged  his  early  and  constant  attention.  Home  train- 
ing, alleviation  of  the  condition  of  the  insane,  lyceums 
and  institutes  for  young  men,  female  seminaries,  relig- 
ious instruction  of  the  West,  peace,  African  coloniza- 
tion, treatment  of  criminals,  were  subjects  on  which 
he  wrote,  counseled,  and  labored  with  effect.  In  short, 
there  was  no  subject  of  valuable  reform  to  which  he 
did  not  direct  his  mind,  and  on  which  he  did  not  shed 
light.  He  was  not,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  a 
reformer.  But  if  he  lacked  the  reformer's  aggressive 
energy,  he  possessed  the  wisdom  and  the  flexibleness 
of  method  and  of  philanthropy,  without  which  the 
work  of  reformation  comes  nearer  being  the  tornado  of 
passion  than  the  purifying  breeze  of  humane  endeavor. 
"In  an  unnoticed  way,  Mr.  Gallaudet  dispensed  con- 
stant and  invaluable  charities ;  those  that  show  most 
effectually  the  undying  root  of  genuine  benevolence. 
He  visited  in  person  the  poor  and  the  suffering.  He  sat 
by  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  dying ;  and  this  not  in 
a  parish,  by  contract,  not  in  the  routine  of  paid  duty, 
but  as  called  by  the  necessities  of  his  fellow  creatures. 
One  said  truly  of  him,  that  '  he  could  not  walk  the 
length  of  Main  Street  without  doing  some  good,  by 
word  or  act,  to  some  being,  young  or  old.'  In  fine, 
Mr.  Gallaudet's  benevolence  was  a  quality  never  to  be 
put  on  or  taken  off,  for  it  was  of  the  man;  or  rather, 
the  man  was  of  it. 


REV.   TIIOS.    IT.    GALLAUDET.  433 

"  We  cannot  but  feel,  if  our  estimate  thus  far  of  the 
character  of  this  remarkable  person  be  true,  that  in 
him  the  spirit  of  the  two  commandments  on  which 
Christ  hung  'all  the  law  and  the  prophets,'  found  a 
beautiful  realization. 

"  We  suppose  the  world  would  withhold  from  the 
subject  of  these  remarks  the  position  and  repute  of  a 
'great  man.'  Yet  to  be  classed  with  Oberlin,  and 
Vincent  de  Paul,  and  Clarkson,  and  Howard,  and 
Tuckerman,  is  a  distinction  of  which  few  certainly  are 
worthy.  In  that  company,  however,  is  Mr.  Gallaudet's 
place.  In  certain  qualities  of  intellect  he  had  no 
superior.  His  judgment  in  practical  affairs  possessed 
the  accuracy  of  almost  supernatural  insight.  When 
he  had  once  investigated  a  subject  of  this  character, 
little  more  remained  to  be  discovered  on  the  same  side. 
This  sagacity  was  the  result  of  his  candor,  which  en- 
abled him  to  do  justice  to  the  objector's  position ;  of 
his  fidelity,  which  permitted  him  to  slight  no  work 
when  once  before  him  to  be  done ;  of  his  power  of 
continuous  attention,  which  precluded  the  possibility 
of  any  part  of  the  subject,  whether  in  its  present  rela- 
tions or  its  probable  issues,  eluding  his  scrutiny ;  and 
of  his  habit  of  applying  to  this  examinations  the  sys- 
tamatized  fruits  of  his  experience.  We  regard  his 
style  in  writing  as  almost  faultless.  It  possessed  the 
high  charm  of  showing  itself  the  instrument  of  truth, 
not  of  him  who  held  the  pen.  What  he  wrote  an- 
swered its  end,  in  arresting  attention  and  producing 
conviction. 

"Mr.  Gallaudet  has  gone  to  his  reward.  The  rich 
and  the  poor  mourned  his  departure.  All  sects  ren- 
dered to  his  mortal  remains  the  tribute  of  their  grief, 
19 


434  LIFE    AND   LABORS   OF 

and  to  his  memory  they  render  the  tribute  of  their 
reverence." 

His  fitness  and  success,  as  chaplain  to  the  insane, 
are  well  stated  by  Dr.  Butler,  of  the  Hartford  Retreat, 
in  one  of  his  annual  reports. 

"  This  field  of  labor  was  admirably  adapted  to  call 
into  exercise  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet,  and  all  these  found  ample  scope  for  their  full 
development  among  the  ever  varying  peculiarities  of 
our  family. 

"  His  equanimity  and  calmness  checked  the  unduly 
excited  ;  his  suavity  and  quiet  dignity  calmed  the  tur- 
bulent; his  kindness,  cheerfulness,  and  wit,  with  his 
ready  repartee,  cheered  and  amused  the  desponding, 
while  his  rare  conversational  powers,  and  his  fund  of 
anecdote,  and  of  general  and  useful  knowledge,  made 
him  the  welcome  companion  of  all. 

"  His  aptness  of  illustration,  the  happy  manner  in 
which  he  applied  practical  religious  truth  to  the  vary- 
ing circumstances  of  the  different  patients,  together 
with  his  quick  perception  of  individual  peculiarities, 
gave  him  ready  access  to  every  mind,  especially  to 
that  class  of  religious  monomaniacs  who  are  difficult 
of  approach,  and  whose  minds  appear  most  obstinately 
closed  against  right  and  natural  views. 

"All  his  efforts  were  directly  illustrative  of  those 
two  great  commandments  of  the  law,  love  to  God  and 
love  to  our  fellow  men,  which  were  ever  the  prominent 
principles  of  his  religious  teachings,  both  in  the  chapel 
and  in  his  social  intercourse.  At  the  bedside  of  the 
sick  he  was  ever  a  ready  and  welcome  visitor,  and  to 
those  who  were  mourning  over  the  loss  of  the  life  or 


REV.   THOS.    H.   GALLAUDET.  435 

of  the  reason  of  their  friends,  he  came  as  the  sym- 
pathizing comforter. 

"  He  had  a  ready  word  of  consolation  and  of  hope 
to  those  who  were  leaving  their  friends  at  the  Eetreat, 
and  of  wise  counsel  and  admonition  to  those  who  were 
passing  from  our  care. 

"  The  aim  of  his  daily  life  was  to  do  good.  His 
whole  warm  heart  was  in  his  work,  and  he  did  that 
work  well.  He  seemed  to  bring  sunlight  with  him 
into  our  household,  and  he  left  its  cheering  influence 
in  every  heart. 

"  He  sympathized  with  me  in  my  plans  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  institution,  the  extension  of  its  in- 
fluence, and  the  relief  and  improvement  of  its  inmates. 
He  felt  the  truth,  often  the  topic  of  our  conversation, 
and  often  expressed  it  to  others,  that  there  is  much  yet 
to  learn  with  regard  to  the  physical,  intellectual,  and 
moral  condition  of  the  insane,  and  of  the  nature  of 
those  causes  of  insanity  which  are  in  active  operation 
around  us ;  and  that  there  is  yet  much  to  do  in  ascer- 
taining and  applying  all  the  available  means  of  pre- 
vention, alleviation,  and  cure. 

"  He  lamented  the  indifference  of  the  public  mind  on 
these  great  subjects,  and  neglected  no  opportunity  of 
endeavoring  to  excite  in  others  that  sense  of  their  im- 
portance which  he  had  derived  from  his  observations 
at  the  Eetreat." 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  E.  K.  Hunt,  to  one 
of  the  sons  of  Mr.  Gallaudet,  will  fitly  close  these 
loving,  but  well  merited  tributes. 

"  Dear  Sir, — In  compliance  with  your  request,  that 
I  should  furnish  you  briefly  such  recollections  of  your 


436  LIFE  AND  LABORS   OF 

]ate  honored  father  as  a  somewhat  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  him  for  several  years  during  the  later  por- 
tion of  his  life  afforded,  I  shall  refer  only  to  a  few  of 
those  more  marked  characteristics  that  especially  struck 
me,  and  produced  a  lasting  effect  upon  my  mind. 

"  I  remember  well  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  him,  and 
the  impression  his  manners  and  conversation  then, 
though  I  did  not  learn  until  afterwards  that  it  was 
Mr.  Gallaudet,  made  upon  my  mind.  It  was  on  a 
pleasant  morning  in  the  fall  of  1839,  that,  a  stranger, 
I  was  standing  in  the  hall  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane, 
waiting  for  an  interview  with  the  physician  to  the  in- 
stitution. Some  of  the  more  quiet  of  the  male  patients 
were  also  there,  engaged  in  conversation,  when  a  small 
man,  of  a  quite  unassuming,  yet  gentlemanly  bearing, 
entered,  and  was  recognized  and  cordially  welcomed 
by  the  patients  as  a  familiar  acquaintance  and  friend. 

"  Of  what  transpired  in  particular  I  have  no  definite 
recollection,  and  only  remember,  as  I  do  distinctly, 
that  uncommon  ease  and  kindness  of  manner ;  a  quiet, 
yet  animated  and  interesting  address ;  a  quick,  clear, 
and  active,  as  well  as  a  highly  cultivated  mind,  char- 
acterized the  interview,  on  the  part  of  the  gentleman 
in  question. 

"A  prolonged  acquaintance  led  me  to  remark,  as  a 
leading  trait  in  his  character,  a  world-wide  philan- 
thropy and  benevolence  of  heart.  Nor  did  it  by  any 
means  limit  itself  solely  to  the  spiritual  well-being  of 
man,  but  to  man  as  he  is,  made  up  of  a  body  as  well 
as  soul,  the  one  continually  and  powerfully  affecting 
the  other,  and  demanding  at  all  times  an  appreciation 
of  this  great  truth,  correctly  to  reason  in  relation  to 
his  mental  and  moral  manifestations,  whether  in  sick- 


REV.    THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET.  437 

ness  or  in  health,  as  a  savage  or  civilized  man ;  a  crea- 
ture to  be  trained  to  act  his  part  effectively  upon  the 
stage  of  life,  and,  at  the  same  time,  most  certainly  to 
attain  to  that  great  end  of  our  being,  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  This,  doubtless,  constituted  the  groundwork  of  that 
charity  which  was  another  feature  of  his  character, 
and  enabled  him,  beyond  any  man  I  ever  saw,  to 
exemplify  in  his  daily  life  this,  the  chief  of  the  Chris- 
tian graces. 

"  Another  feature  of  his  character,  that  a  continued 
and  close  acquaintance  brought  prominently  to  my 
notice,  was  his  ever  present  sense  of  accountability  to 
God,  as  illustrated  in  the  scope  and  tenor  of  his  conver- 
sation. Though  eminently  cheerful,  and  appreciating 
the  humorous  and  mirthful,  perhaps  even  more  than 
a  majority  of  people,  still  the  momentous  thought, 
that  i  for  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they 
shall  give  an  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment,' 
seemed  to  stand  out,  as  if  written  in  letters  of  light, 
continually  before  his  mind.  I  know  not  that  I  ever 
spent  five  minutes  with  him  in  meaningless  and  un- 
profitable conversation.  It  was  one  of  his  great  excel- 
lencies that  he  both  knew  how,  and  had  the  disposi 
tion  always  to  render  an  interview,  however  short, 
both  agreeable  and  useful. 

"  Growing  out  of  these  leading  traits,  were  a  multi- 
tude of  minor  virtues,  which  I  love  to  dwell  upon, 
while  I  weep  over  the  loss  society  sustained  in  the 
death  of  their  possessor.  One  of  the  subjects  on  which 
Mr.  Gallaudet  used  often  to  speak,  and  dwell  with  spe- 
cial interest — perhaps  because  lie  thought  it  would  be 
more  acceptable  to  me  as  a  physician,  than  most  other 


438  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF 

topics — was  that  of  the  physical  training  and  educa- 
tion of  the  young.  And  on  this  subject,  I  am  greatly 
mistaken  if  his  views  were  not  profoundly  philosoph- 
ical and  correct.  He  highly  estimated — but  to  that 
degree  only  which  it  justly  merits — the  vast  import- 
ance of  physical  culture,  not  as  a  mere  political  ques- 
tion, but  as  it  stands  related  to  the  intellectual  and 
moral  part  of  our  nature.  No  system  of  training  sat- 
isfied him  that  did  not  equally  comprehend  in  its  pur- 
pose and  results  the  proper  exercise,  development,  and 
culture  of  these  several  and  preponderating  elements 
of  the  man.  To  give  any  one  of  them  an  ascendency 
over  the  others  was,  to  his  mind,  a  sad  and  lamentable 
defect,  as  he  saw  in  it,  as  an  inevitable  consequence, 
a  future  character  distorted,  and  but  imperfectly  qual- 
ified for  the  proper  discharge  of  the  duties  of  life. 
And  his  opinion  of  its  importance  related  quite  as 
much  to  the  female  sex  as  our  own.  In  the  round  of 
woman's  duties,  he  clearly  saw  the  need  of  a  sound, 
well-balanced  physical  organization,  and  no  perfection 
of  accomplishments,  so  called,  nor  degree  of  moral 
excellence,  could  satisfactorily  atone  for  any  essential 
deficiency  in  this  respect. 

"Hence  resulted  his  high,  yet  by  no  means  unrea- 
sonable estimate  of  the  importance  of  pure  air  and  sun 
light ;  of  spacious  and  well  ventilated  school  rooms ; 
and  of  all  places,  indeed,  designed  for  public  assem- 
blies whatever  their  special  object,  and  his  frequent 
and  eloquent  discourses  upon  this  great  theme.  His 
own  health,  and  susceptible  lungs,  as  affected  by  these 
agents,  as  well  as  thousands  of  other  sufferers,  from 
like  causes,  who  are  constantly  under  the  observation 
of  physicians,  equally  attested  the  soundness  of  his 


REV.   THOS.   H.    GALLAUDET.  439 

arguments,  and  the  wisdom  as  well  as  need  of  his  oft- 
repeated  suggestions. 

u  Hence,  also,  his  profound  sorrow  whenever  he  ob- 
served, as  he  could  not  sometimes  fail  to  do,  the  phys- 
ical well-being  of  the  young,  particularly  of  girls,  sac- 
rificed through  a  misplaced  endeavor  to  secure  high 
moral  and  intellectual  attainments  without  reference 
to  the  bodily  health,  and  too  often  at  the  cost  of  its 
serious,  if  not  permanent  injury. 

"In  a  word,  as  I  have  before  intimated,  he  under- 
stood better  than  most  men,  the  laws  which  Infinite 
Wisdom  has  set  over  the  organization  of  man,  and  the 
mutual  reactions  of  its  several  parts ;  and  was  also 
keenly  alive  to  its  due  and  harmonious  development. 
He  knew,  indeed,  no  completeness,  either  moral  or 
intellectual,  aside  from  a  sound  bodily  constitution. 

"  Of  his  intellectual  character,  and  of  him  as  a 
scholar  and  Christian  teacher,  it  is  not  my  province  to 
speak,  neither  of  him  as  the  pioneer  in  the  great  work 
of  deaf  mute  instruction  in  this  country,  and  the  foun- 
der of  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb, 
which  itself  insures  him  a  high  and  enduring  fame, 
nor  yet  his  remarkable  adaptedness,  as  I  had  every 
opportunity  to  know — for  the  position  which  he  long 
held,  as  Chaplain  of  the  Eetreat ;  where,  as  my  acquaint- 
ance with  him  accidentally  began,  it  was  my  peculiar 
privilege  to  extend  it,  until  it  grew  into  the  ripeness 
and  strength  of  a  lasting  friendship,  and  a  reverence 
on  my  part,  for  the  many  shining  virtues  which  his 
everyday  life  exhibited. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"E.  K.  HUNT. 

"  Mr.  Edward  Gallaudet,  Hartford,  May,  1857." 


440  LIFE   OF   REV.   THOS.    H.    GALLAUDET. 

"With  this  letter,  I  close  this  imperfect  record.  I 
pass  from  the  contemplation  of  the  life  and  character 
of  this  good  man,  with  a  feeling  like  that  with  which 
I  have  sometimes  descended  from  a  noble  eminence, 
turning  with  reluctance  from  some  scene  of  surpassing 
beauty,  but  bearing  away  in  my  heart  its  lovely  image, 
that  seemed  for  many  days  to  reflect  an  unwonted 
grace  upon  the  more  familiar  and  unattractive  scenes, 
amid  which  my  humble  duties  were  performed.  This 
common  life  itself  seems  ennobled,  its  uses  worthier,  its 
purposes  grander,  its  poor  earthly  labors  capable  even 
of  immortal  fruits,  as  we  see  what  has  been  attempted 
and  what  accomplished  by  one  pure  minded,  great 
hearted,  Christian  Philanthropist